Drexel University College of Medicine

Pharmacology & Physiology Masters/Ph.D. Program 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.

Pharmacology & Physiology 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.

Learn more about the Department of Pharmacology and Physiology

Required Courses for the Pharmacology & Physiology Program:

PHRM 502:   Current Topics in Pharmacology and Physiology
PHRM 503:   Pharmacology and Physiology 1st Lab Rotation
PHRM 504:   Pharmacology and Physiology 2nd Lab Rotation
PHRM 505:   Pharmacology and Physiology 3rd Lab Rotation
PHRM 507:   Principles of Neuropharmacology
PHRM 512:   Graduate Pharmacology
PHRM 516:   Special Topics in Pharmacology and Physiology
PHRM 600:   Pharmacology and Physiology Thesis Research
PHGY 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 in PDF format.

Pharmacology and Physiology Policies (Adobe Acrobat PDF format)

Pharmacology & Physiology Program Faculty

Seena Ajit, Ph.D. - Molecular mechanisms of neurophathic pain; epigenetic regulation; microRNA expression and regulation; biomarkers.

James Barrett, Ph.D.** - Pain; behavioral pharmacology; animal models; drug discovery and development.

Paul Campbell, Ph.D. - Cancer cell biology, signaling, tumor invasion and metastasis.

Janet Clark, Ph.D. - Neuropsychiatric disorders; immune dysregulation; pro-inflammatory animal model of depression; drug discovery and development.

G. John DiGregorio, M.D. , Ph.D.** - Analyses of drugs and their metabolites in biological fluids.

Alessandro Fatatis, M.D., Ph.D. - Molecular and genetic targets for therapeutics against metastatic dissemination; prostate and breast cancer cells targeting the skeleton.

Alessandro Graziano, Ph.D. - CNS plasticity in central and chronic pain; pharmacological and optogenetics approaches to pain control.

Joel Horowitz, Ph.D.** - Pharmacology education.

Huijuan Hu, Ph.D. - Ion Channels; synaptic transmission; neuropathic and inflammatory pain; electrophysiology.

Felix Kim, Ph.D. - Sigma 1 receptor biology, molecular pharmacology, biochemistry of sigma 1 receptors in endoplasmic reticulum protein homeostatis, cell stress response, cancer. 

Rachel Laudadio, Ph.D. ** - Physiology education.

Olimpia Meucci, M.D., Ph.D. - NeuroAIDs; chemokines, neuroprotection; neuronal-glia interactions; CNS therapeutics; neuroimmunology.

Paul McGonigle, Ph.D.** - CNS drug discovery; receptor pharmacology; behavioral pharmacology; neuropharmacology; drug discovery and development.

Boris Polyak, Ph.D. - Magnetic targeting of endothelial cells to stents for prevention of restenosis.

Robert Moreland, Ph.D. - Vascular and bladder smoth muscle physiology; excitation-contraction coupling; calcium sensitization; hypertension; diabetes; benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Andreia Mortensen, Ph.D. - glutamate transporters, neurodegenerative disorders, spider venom compounds that target transporters. 

Ole Mortensen, Ph.D. - Function and regulation of monoamine transporters - targets of antidepressants and psychostimulants.

Jeff Oristaglio, Ph.D. - Physiological processes involved in selective attention, learning and adaptability; neurodevelopmental disorders.

Anthony Romano, Ph.D.** - Pharmacology education.

Kenny Simansky, Ph.D.** - Vice Dean, Research.

Barry Waterhouse, Ph.D. - Vice Dean, Biomedical Graduate and Postgraduate Studies.

**Faculty not accepting students at this time. 
 

Tracey Bracale
Program Administrator
Biomedical Graduate Studies Programs
Drexel University College of Medicine
2900 Queen Lane
Philadelphia, PA 19129 
Phone: 215-991-8157 or 1-866-6BIOMED
Fax: 215-843-5810
E-mail: tbracale@drexelmed.edu