Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmaceutics and Pharmacology

Medicinal Chemistry Concentration

Students may study for a concentration in Medicinal Chemistry in the areas of (1) virtual drug screening and design; (2) high throughput screening and drug syntheses; (3) characterization of drug targets and developing of novel therapeutic interventions; or (4) therapeutic natural product screening and identification.

Pharmaceutics Concentration

Pharmaceutics is a multidisciplinary science that focuses on the study of the physical, chemical and biological properties of drugs and dosage forms. Cutting across the traditional disciplinary boundaries, pharmaceutics examines the relationship of drug properties to dosage form design, fabrication, evaluation and therapeutic efficacy. Students in the Ph.D. program's Pharmaceutics Concentration may develop research programs in the areas of drug delivery systems, drug stability, dosage forms, pharmacokinetics and drug discovery.

Pharmacology Concentration

Pharmacology is the study of the mechanisms of action of drugs and their effects on normal and disease states. It is a science based upon integrating chemistry, biochemistry, cell and molecular biology and physiology. Students in the Ph.D. program's Pharmacology Concentration may develop research projects in the areas of renal physiology, autonomic and central nervous systems, cardiovascular pharmacology, signal transduction, cellular physiology of exercise and aging, protein biochemistry, and cancer biology.