524 Scaife Hall

412-648-8957

http://www.gradbiomed.pitt.edu

gradstudies@medschool.pitt.edu

The Molecular Pharmacology Graduate Training Program seeks to provide students molecular insight into pathophysiological processes via interactions of drugs and other chemicals with organisms and/or biological materials. Fundamentally much of Molecular Pharmacology can be characterized as Perturbational Biology: using drugs to alter the abnormal to a more normal state or using drugs to probe or disrupt a normal system. As a basic medical science, Molecular Pharmacology deals with a broad range of topics from understanding cell signaling through the molecular mechanisms of drug action to designing and testing new chemical compounds for improved beneficial effects and reduced toxicity. All levels of biological organization from small molecules to macromolecules, cells, organs, and whole animals, including humans, may be involved. Molecular Pharmacology requires not only a sound understanding of the chemistry of living systems (biochemistry) and of the integrated levels of biological organization (physiology) but also a firm appreciation of molecular biology, cell biology, synthetic chemistry, immunology, neurobiology, medicine, molecular genetics and the growing fields of genomics and bioinformatics; it is, therefore, multidimensional. The Molecular Pharmacology Training Faculty carries out research in six core organ/disease research areas: Cancer Pharmacology, Drug Discovery, Signal Transduction, Neuropharmacology, Cell & Organ System Pharmacology and DNA Repair.