He is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation (BBRF, previously NARSAD) and of One Mind (previously International Mental Health Research Organization),[5] as well as a past member of the Board of Directors of the McKnight Endowment Fund in Neuroscience.

[1] His addiction research largely centers around several transcription factors, including ΔFosB and CREB (master control proteins that induce addiction or depression in vulnerable individuals or resistance to these syndromes in resilient individuals) and the associated epigenetic remodeling that occurs in specific neuronal or glial cell types in the brain.

A major goal is to identify the ‘chromatin scars’—long lasting epigenetic changes at specific genomic loci—that mediate lifelong changes in disease vulnerability.

[3][8][9] The Nestler laboratory has driven innovative use of viral-mediated gene transfer, inducible, cell-type specific mutations in mice, and locus-specific epigenome editing to establish causal links between molecular and behavioral phenomena in animal models.

[8][9][10] The laboratory also makes creative use of advanced machine learning approaches to derive novel biological insight from large sequencing datasets.

In 2020, Dr. Nestler received an honorary degree from Concordia University in Montreal as “a pioneer in depression and drug-addiction research and institutional advocacy for equity, diversity and inclusion.