Catherine Demery, a PhD Candidate at the University of Michigan Medical School, is the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Highlighted Trainee Author for July 2025. 

The article that earned her the selection is titled “Xylazine exacerbates fentanyl-induced respiratory depression and bradycardia” and is available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpet.2025.103616.  

Catherine’s research focuses on fentanyl overdose to understand how we can better prevent or reverse fatal opioid overdoses. “I hope my work will improve our molecular understanding of opioid-induced respiratory depression and inform how the risk of overdose changes with different opioids or multiple substances,” she shares.