Research Overview

The Molecular and Systems Pharmacology (MSP) graduate program catapults students into the intricate workings of contemporary pharmaceuticals and explores how groundbreaking therapeutics on the horizon have the potential to transform healthcare. Faculty members of this program seek to understand how drugs work, how drugs are processed in the body, and how this information might be used to develop new drugs in the future and also identify new drug targets to treat human disease better. Knowledge about drug interactions with known targets and the identification of novel drug targets (molecular pharmacology) is combined with information about how the effects of drugs on different organs and tissues are integrated to produce therapeutic or toxic effects (systems pharmacology).

Graduates of the MSP program emerge with broad training in basic biomedical sciences, encompassing such disciplines as biochemistry, molecular biology, physiology, and neuroscience, along with training and expertise in the specialized principles and approaches of pharmacology. This combination is increasingly sought after by the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and government sectors, as well as being excellent preparation for an academic or nonacademic career. The program also offers specializations in toxicology, which focus on the adverse effects of drugs and chemicals, and a chemical biology concentration that provides interested MSP students with the opportunity to obtain simultaneous training and expertise in aspects of chemistry that are particularly relevant to pharmacology and drug development.

Faculty and student research focuses on four primary areas of investigation:

• Mechanisms of Therapeutics
• Molecular Toxicology
• Neuropharmacology
• Novel Therapeutic Approaches