Pharmacology & Physiology

PHARMACOLOGY & PHYSIOLOGY

Description

Pharmacology examines and characterizes the action of drugs in humans and animals. It emphasizes the therapeutic responses of drugs, their mechanisms of action, the fate of drugs in the body, potential adverse reactions, and drug-drug interactions. Physiology considers processes that control and regulate the functioning of systems within an intact organism.

Basic physiological processes underlie all fields in biomedical science. Understanding and exploiting the specific actions of drugs can also furnish a way to probe physiological and biochemical processes in both normal and pathological circumstances. Research in pharmacology and physiology provides challenging and exciting opportunities for graduate study.

The Pharmacology and Physiology program offers graduate courses leading to the M.S. and the Ph.D. Both degrees require independent research under the direction of faculty members in the department, who are engaged in highly active research programs involving molecular, cellular, and behavioral approaches to experimental pharmacology and physiology in a strongly collaborative environment.

Program Requirements

All students must successfully complete the core curriculum before advancing to the specific program requirements for their degree. Intensive graduate-level pharmacology and physiology courses round out the core programmatic courses. Specialization in ion channel physiology, smooth muscle physiology, neuropharmacology, behavioral pharmacology, and signal transduction processes may involve the taking of several elective courses. Each program requires defense of a thesis based on original research.

The Ph.D. program, requiring a minimum of four years in full-time study, is focused on educating students to become independent researchers and teachers. The M.S. program, requiring two years of full-time study, provides a broad knowledge and technical expertise in pharmacology and physiology, allowing graduates to become partners in research in either an academic or industrial environment. Students who wish to continue their graduate studies after the M.S. degree may apply to the Ph.D. program, and their course credits may be applied to the doctoral program.

Required Courses for Program:

PHRM-502

Current Topics in Pharmacology and Physiology

PHRM-503

Pharmacology & Physiology 1^st Laboratory Rotation

PHRM-504

Pharmacology & Physiology 2^nd Laboratory Rotation

PHRM-505

Pharmacology & Physiology 3^rd Laboratory Rotation

PHRM-516

Special Topics in Pharmacology & Physiology

PHRM-507

Neuropharmacology, Behavioral Pharmacology, and Physiology

PHRM-512

Graduate Pharmacology

PHRM-600

Pharmacology & Physiology Thesis Research

PHYS-503

Graduate Physiology

Program Guidelines

The following guidelines describe the academic policies and procedures pertaining to graduate study in the Pharmacology and Physiology program. The booklet contains current standards that are revised periodically by faculty in the Pharmacology and Physiology program, procedures and general rules of the Office of Biomedical Graduate Studies. The booklet can be downloaded either in PDF format or Word format.

Pharmacology and Physiology Policies (Adobe Acrobat PDF format)
Pharmacology and Physiology Policies (Microsoft Word format)

Faculty

Areas of Research

Behavioral pharmacology: Studies involve neural mechanisms underlying learning and memory. Also, receptor and cell signaling mechanisms involved in the modulation of drug and food reward by opioids, cannabinoids, and serotonin.
Cancer biology: Studies involve the cellular and molecular mechanisms responsible for the metastatic potential and organ tropism of cancer cells, with particular emphasis on prostate and breast adenocarcinomas; the role of human tumor stem cells in the origin of cancer; the effects of small molecule inhibitors and antibodies – directed to block or reduce secondary tumor growth – studied in animal models of metastasis.
Cutaneous biology and autonomic function: Studies are aimed at identifying the mechanism of eccrine sweating in health and disease as well as the role of cutaneous vasoconstriction and vasodilation in this process. To fully understand this cutaneous biological control system, both autonomic and cardiovascular parameters are also addressed during environmental perturbations.
Drugs of abuse: Studies on the effects of neurotoxic and psychotropic drugs on classical conditioning; role of central monoaminergic, neuropeptide, and cannabinoid mechanges in behavioral actions of drugs of abuse; developmental alterations in neuroanatomical structures in drug abuse; the interactions between ethanol and various second-messenger systems in cultured nerve cells, addiction, and its relation with HIV progression.
Ion channel physiology: Studies encompass structure-function relationships of nicotinic and serotonergic receptor-channels; functional interactions among ion channels in the model system Paramecium.
Neuroimmunology: Studies focus on the physiological and pathological roles of chemokines in the central nervous system, including the involvement of chemokine receptors in HIV neuropathology.
Neuropharmacology: Studies include the molecular physiology and pharmacology of presynaptic ligand-gated ion channels, pharmacological regulation of neurotransmitter receptors, neurochemical control of food intake, neuropeptides in seizures, molecular mechanisms in signal transduction, including regulation of G-proteins coupled receptors, phospholipases, and protein phosphorylation pathways.
Psychophysiology: Studies involve analysis of changes in cognitive event-related potentials in response to psychotropic drugs.
Photochemistry in physiology: Studies involve development and use of photochemically activated bioprobes, including caged compounds and fluorescent bioprobes.
Smooth and skeletal muscle physiology: Studies include the examination of excitation contraction coupling in smooth muscle. Signal transduction pathways involving changes in calcium concentration and protein phosphorylation are examined using physiological, biochemical, and cellular techniques. These studies are aimed at vascular, bladder, and vaginal smooth muscle in normal and pathological states. Studies using skeletal muscle are focused on the pathologies of muscular dystrophy. Specifically in the development of novel probes for the introduction of vectors to increase dystrophin levels in an animal model of Duchenne's dystrophy.

Contact Information

Robert S. Moreland, Ph.D.
Professor
Director, Graduate Program in Pharmacology and Physiology
Drexel University College of Medicine
Department of Pharmacology and Physiology
245 N. 15th Street, MS #488
Philadelphia, PA 19102
215-762-5133 (voice)
215-762-2299 (fax)
E-mail: robert.moreland@drexelmed.edu

Tracey Bracale
Program Administrator
Biomedical Graduate Studies Programs
Drexel University College of Medicine
2900 Queen Lane
Philadelphia, PA 19129
Phone: 1-866-6BIOMED or 215-991-8570
Fax: 215-843-5810
E-mail: tbracale@drexelmed.edu

2900 Queen Lane
Philadelphia, PA 19129

1-866-6BIOMED (1-866-624-6633)
biograd@drexel.edu