Lab Members

Anahita Bassir Nia, MD, is an Addiction Psychiatrist and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine.

Dr. Bassir Nia has focused her research on translational science to understand the neurobiology of stress-related psychiatric disorders such as substance use disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The ultimate goal of her research is to identify novel biological targets in treating these disorders. She received her career development award for studying the endogenous cannabinoid system (eCB) in opioid use disorder (OUD) and conducted brain imaging studies to investigate the availability of cannabinoid receptors in individuals with various stress-related disorders, such as PTSD and OUD. She is interested in the impact of early-life adversity on brain development and its consequences on mental health later in life. She is also interested in the potential use of psychedelics in the treatment of substance use disorders and PTSD. She investigates the potential effects of psychedelics N, N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), in the treatment of alcohol use disorder (AUD) and its underlying mechanism, such as changes in neuroplasticity. She is also interested in understanding the prosocial effects of psychedelics.

Ardavan Mohammad Aghaei, MD, MPH, is a postdoctoral research associate at Bassir Nia's Lab and Schizophrenia Neuropsychopharmacology Research Group at Yale (SNRGY). He graduated from the MD, MPH program at Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran, where his research was focused on addiction epidemiology and social psychiatry. At Yale Psychiatry Department, he works under the supervision of Dr. Anahita Bassir Nia, conducting translational research on addiction and other psychiatric disorders. Ardavan's main interest lies in understanding the mechanisms of action of psychedelic drugs and exploring their potential in treating substance use disorders. Additionally, his other research track includes studying the role of the endocannabinoid system in the interplay of substance use disorders and stress/trauma responses and potentially targeting this system for the treatment of substance use or stress/trauma-related disorders. In his free time, Ardavan enjoys cooking and reading.

Angelina Contreras is currently a Research Assistant 2 within the ABN Lab at Yale University, Department of Psychiatry. She is actively involved in the recruitment and the coordination of multiple research projects, primarily focusing on substance use disorders. Angelina began her career in pre-clinical research consisting of neuromodulation and addiction studies with non-human primates. She graduated from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities with a B.S. in Psychology and minors in Biology, Integrative Neuroscience, and Public Health. Her research interests include pharmaceutical treatments for chronic severe mental illness and substance addiction.

Dr. Matthews is an internist with dual board certifications in infectious diseases and addiction medicine. He is actively involved in drug development and pharmacokinetic studies, with a particular interest in developing psychedelic therapeutics for treating chronic pain across the lifespan. Additionally, Dr. Matthews focuses on improving methodologies to effectively blind sensory experiences associated with these drugs.