Nicole Galvão-Coelho is an Associate Professor at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte-Brazil and an Adjunct Professor at NICM Health Research Institute at Western Sydney University-Australia. Ph.D. in Psychobiology and BS in Biology. She has a scientific interest in alternative therapies for depressive disorders. She has been investigating several treatments ranging from lifestyle-based interventions to psychedelic substances like ayahuasca, DMT, and the anesthetic Ketamine. Besides the antidepressant response, the molecular biological response is also analyzed in clinical and pre-clinical studies to validate biomarkers for depression aiming to help in clinical practice. She conducted the first clinical study, with patients with depression, that evaluated neuroplasticity in response to a classic psychedelic (ayahuasca).