Dr. Bruchas received his Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Creighton University and his Ph.D. in pharmacology from the same institution in 2004. He then completed a postdoctoral fellowship in neuroscience under Dr. Charles Chavkin, at the University of Washington – Seattle, where he spent his post-doctoral research efforts examining how the brain encodes emotional behaviors, and how stress impacts anxiety, depression, and addiction. He was then recruited as an assistant professor to Washington University School of Medicine in late 2010. Dr. Bruchas was rapidly promoted to associate professor with tenure in July 2015.