Nicholas earned his Bachelor of Science degree at Saint Louis University in 2007. His undergraduate degree in Investigative and Medical Science was housed in the then Department of Clinical Laboratory Science in the Edward and Margaret C. Doisy College of Health Sciences. He earned his Master of Science degree in Clinical Laboratory Science at Rush University in Chicago. Upon graduation, he worked for two years in the microbiology and core laboratories at Rush University Medical Center. In 2011, he accepted a position as a laboratory director in a long-term acute care hospital (LTACH) in Chicago. While in the LTACH, he was involved with investigators in a CDC-funded study (1U54CK00161, RA Weinstein, PI). Their research involved the implementation of an infection control bundle to reduce Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC) transmission and infection in the LTACH setting. He is currently an instructor in clinical microbiology in the Department of Medical Laboratory Science at Rush University Medical Center and is a doctoral candidate. His research efforts focus on KPC and other antimicrobial resistance mechanisms among Gram-negative bacilli.