Pharmacology and Toxicology

About the Department

The Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology has a distinguished history for providing the best in graduate and medical education. Our faculty is engaged in cutting-edge research spanning many areas such as dermatology, metabolism, immunology, cell biology, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases. Our curriculum is firmly rooted in the areas of leadership, research techniques, and translational medicine.

The Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology offers students a variety of educational opportunities, including Master of Science degree programs, specialized graduate-level certifications, and the ability to carry out doctoral level research.

Our department faculty is exceptionally diverse, in educational and cultural backgrounds, which provides our students with unique educational possibilities. Our innovative programs provide a comprehensive introduction to the broad range of theoretical concepts that comprise pharmacology and toxicology, including both historical context and state-of-the-art technical approaches to solving pharmacological and toxicological problems. The goal of providing students with a career-oriented yet theoretically based education will be accomplished within the core curriculum through the combination of text and literature-based lectures, department-sponsored seminars, and in-depth dialogue between students and faculty. These activities promote critical thinking and is based on asking and answering questions in the classroom, laboratory, and clinic. Our programs also provide students with the opportunities to carry out ground-breaking research using a variety of systems and approaches ranging from molecules to animal and human studies. Our students are recruited from universities worldwide, as well as military, medical, and industrial sectors.  

Educational Mission

The educational mission of our department is related to teaching in the medical, graduate and undergraduate curricula. Teaching excellence is a priority of the department and the faculty put much effort into their lectures and practical science teaching. The programs of study are in the Master of Science in Pharmacology and Toxicology and the Ph.D. programs in Biomedical Sciences and Environmental Sciences. Our department offers master’s degree tracks in traditional laboratory-based thesis research, leadership/administration, and clinical trials, as well as a dual-degree option with the M.D. program. Our graduates have been successful at obtaining positions in academia, military, and private industry.

Research Mission

The research foci of the department are:

1. Pharmacology of disease pathogenesis and treatment – hypertension, diabetes, stroke, pain, neurological, cancer, skin conditions and others.
2. Disease Mechanisms – cellular physiology, cell signaling, ion transport, volume regulation, behavior, mutagenesis, genomic stress responses, and wound healing.
3. Toxicology – behavioral, immunological, cardiovascular, genotoxicity, and nanoparticles,

The methods used in these experimental approaches are molecular genetics, gene therapy, mass spectroscopy (proteomics), gene microarray expression, integrative cardiovascular biology, confocal microscopy, animal models of disease, and human subjects research.

Some of the facilities available to the faculty and students include our departmental cores: the Proteomics Analysis Laboratory, Preclinical Pharmacology Core, and the Pharmacology Translational Unit. Other WSU cores that our students have ready access to include the Laboratory Animal Resources Facility, the Center for Genomics Research, and the Microscopy Core Facility. Research support comes from the National Institutes of Health, American Heart Association, American Diabetes Association, Office of Air Force Research, Department of Defense, and the Veteran’s Administration.

Our department will continue its growth in the coming years with the addition of faculty, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and visiting faculty and students.