Michael Gatch

Michael Gatch is a Professor in Pharmacology & Neuroscience at the University of North Texas Health Science Center's College of Biomedical and Translational Sciences. He holds a PhD in Psychology from Utah State University. His research focuses on drug addiction treatments and evaluating abuse liability of novel designer drugs, using methodologies like drug discrimination, conditioned place preference, and self-administration assays.

Education:

• BA in Behavioral Science, University of Chicago
• MA in Behavior Science, University of Houston
• PhD in Psychology, Utah State University

Research Interests: Michael’s work targets two main goals: (1) screening compounds to reduce addiction to cocaine, methamphetamine, nicotine, and marijuana via NIDA-funded contracts, and (2) assessing abuse liability of emerging designer drugs like MDMA and synthetic cathinones. His lab employs rodent behavioral models and drug discrimination techniques to evaluate subjective effects and reinforcing properties of drugs.

Grants & Projects:

• Active Project: 'Using rodent behavioral models' (NIDA-funded, 2023–2028)
• Active Project: 'Evaluation of Abuse Potential' (US Department of Justice, 2024–2029)
• Past Project: 'Evaluation of Two Synthetic Tryptamines' (US Department of Justice, 2019–2020)

Labs & Collaborations: Collaborates with researchers like Dr. Forster and Dr. Shetty on drug abuse liability studies. His lab emphasizes translational research to bridge preclinical findings to human therapeutic applications.