Pharmaceutical Sciences

The pharmaceutical sciences are a group of interdisciplinary areas of study involved with the design, action, delivery, disposition, and use of drugs. This field draws on many areas of basic and applied science such as chemistry, biology, mathematics, physics, and engineering.

The pharmaceutical sciences are generally divided into the following subdivisions:

  • Pharmacology: the study of the biochemical and physiological effects of drugs on organisms
  • Pharmacodynamics: the study of the cellular and molecular interactions of drugs with their receptors
  • Toxicology: the study of the harmful or toxic effects of drugs
  • Pharmacokinetics: the study of the factors that control the concentration of drugs at various sites in the body
  • Pharmaceutics: the study and design of drug dosage forms for optimal delivery, stability, pharmacokinetics, and patient acceptance
  • Medicinal Chemistry: the study of drug design to optimize the pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and synthesis of new drug candidates
  • Pharmacogenomics: the study of the inheritance of characteristic patterns of interaction between drugs and organisms

As a team, the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences promotes a passion for learning and scholarship demonstrated through a commitment to community partnership and student mentoring.

  • Pharmacy professor watches over male students in a lab setting.
    Teaching: Building a Strong Science Background

    Faculty of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences are responsible for all of the basic science courses taught in the first 3 years of the Pharm.D. curriculum.

    Teaching in the Pharmaceutical Sciences
  • Female pharmacy student stands behind a shelf of bottles and pharmacy equipment.
    Research: Contributions to the Knowledge of Science

    Since its inception, the department has been continuously successful in obtaining outside funding to support the research and scholarship of both faculty and students.

    Research in the Pharmaceutical Sciences