Xylazine, Fentanyl, and the Fight for Breath with Catherine Demery

Two drugs. Two different mechanisms. One deadly outcome.

Fentanyl and xylazine are pushing the opioid crisis into dangerous new territory, and Catherine Demery is on the front lines of the science trying to stop it.

In this gripping conversation, Catherine, a PhD candidate at the University of Michigan, shares how personal loss and an unconventional career path—industry chemist, NIH researcher, and now GPCR pharmacologist—led her to investigate how these drugs shut down breathing in different ways.

Her research combines cutting-edge GPCR signaling studies with real-time public health data from Michigan’s Red Project, revealing how fentanyl slows inhalation, xylazine prolongs exhalation, and together they drop heart rate to dangerous lows. And while users aren’t asking for xylazine, dealers are lacing it into the supply—driving overdose deaths higher.

Why This Matters

Fentanyl: Potent synthetic opioid that decreases inhalation rate.
Xylazine: Veterinary sedative that prolongs exhalation and induces bradycardia—acting through alpha-2 adrenergic, not opioid, receptors.
The Combo: Not just additive—lethal.
Street Data: Xylazine-laced fentanyl in Michigan has jumped 30–60% in recent years.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

How industry lab experience builds the discipline needed for academic research.
Why xylazine is an emerging overdose threat and how it differs mechanistically from opioids.
The methods used to measure respiratory depression in live models.
How loss and lived experience can sharpen scientific focus.
The role of public health programs in informing lab research.
How GPCR pharmacology connects molecular insights to real-world interventions.

Who Should Listen

This episode is especially relevant for:

GPCR drug discovery scientists
Respiratory pharmacologists
Addiction researchers
Public health professionals
Early-career scientists navigating non-linear paths

About Catherine Demery

Catherine Demery didn’t set out to be on the front lines of the opioid crisis. After earning her undergraduate degree in biochemistry from the University of Michigan, she deferred pharmacy school, unsure if that path felt right.

Instead, she went hands-on—working as an analytical chemist in a GLP/GMP-regulated CRO, where precision and discipline became second nature. That led her to a master’s in pharmacogenomics at Manchester University, igniting her fascination with how genetics and drugs interact.

Her next stop: the NIH, studying the immunology of pregnancy. But loss has a way of sharpening focus—friends lost to overdose brought the opioid epidemic into painful clarity. Catherine decided to act where she could make the biggest difference: in the lab.

Today, as a PhD candidate in the labs of Dr. John Traynor and Dr. Jessica Anand at the University of Michigan, Catherine investigates how fentanyl and xylazine shut down breathing through different mechanisms—work that blends receptor pharmacology, preclinical models, and public health data to tackle one of the most urgent challenges in addiction science.

Catherine Demery on the web

🎧 Listen now and see how one scientist is turning molecules into a mission, bridging the gap between receptor pharmacology and the urgent fight to save lives in the opioid epidemic.

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Keyword Cloud

GPCR research community, Dr. GPCR ecosystem, GPCR training program, GPCR podcast, opioid pharmacology, xylazine research, mu opioid receptor, pharmacogenomics, fentanyl epidemic, preclinical pharmacology