Jessica Whelan Giddens DNPc, FPMHNP-BC

Dr. Jessica Giddens is a doctorate of nursing with extensive experience in the mental health and neuropsychiatry field. She has served as a speaker and advisory board member in the areas of neurobiology, disease states, nursing leadership, psychopharmacology, autism spectrum disorders, genomics, epigenetics, and integrative holistic medicine. As an advocate for neuroscience nomenclature and routine use of psychopharmacogenomics in practice, to name a few, she consults for: Abbvie, Otsuka, Lundbeck, Sunovion, Teva, Neurocrine, Genomind, and Avanir. She has also taken part in industry publications, national media tours, podcasts, and website design, and has participated as a co-host on a local health radio show, The Health Beat, in St. Louis.

Dr. Giddens is the owner and CEO of Holon Inclusive Health System and Healthcare consultant, in addition to being a #NeuroTribe (Asπ) mom. She is adjunct faculty at Maryville University and provides clinical mentorship for medical and nurse practitioner students. Her Master’s project consisted of an appraisal of literature regarding NMDA receptor antagonism in the positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia, and her doctoral project was an evaluation of nurse practitioner-led care in psychiatry in comparison to care led by a psychiatrist.

As a nurse she has worked in multiple areas including community mental health, inpatient psychiatric units including adult, acute adult, geriatric, and child and adolescents. In addition to her extensive experience in psychiatry, she has also worked as a nursing supervisor and as part of an acute care float team gaining experience in multiple inpatient medical units.

Dr. Jessica Giddens-Whelan feels she has a diverse experience and passion in psychiatry and strives to decrease stigma and promote education and research in the field. She loves to assist the promotion of psychiatric nurse practitioners and psychiatric nurses internationally and increase public awareness regarding their contributions to the psychiatric field. She hopes that her passion for psychiatry, the science of neuropsychopharmacology, neurobiology, neuropathology, and neuro-psycho pharmacogenomics; and her research will continue to inspire other nurses to expand the horizons for psychiatric nurses everywhere. Dr. Jessica Giddens-Whelan hopes to be one of the first doctorly prepared nurse practitioners to be accepted as a member of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology and become an even more influential leader.