Graduate studies in medicinal chemistry involve applying the knowledge of chemistry to research associated with therapeutically useful compounds. This research includes the design and synthesis of new classes of therapeutic agents, the chemical modifications of existing drugs leading to an improved therapeutic effect, the correlation of the chemical structure of a drug with its pharmacological activity, the development and improvement of techniques used in the analysis of therapeutic agents, and the study of how chemical properties affect drug distribution and metabolism.

A plan of study in medicinal chemistry would emphasize courses in chemistry (analytical, biological, medicinal, organic and physical) with support courses in natural products chemistry, pharmacology, and pharmaceutics.

Specific thesis or dissertation research projects would be dependent upon the mutual interest of the student and the major professor.

Natural products chemistry embraces many of the concepts and techniques as well as most of the fundamental knowledge that is common with medicinal chemistry. The distinguishing feature is that this area involves the study of natural products from plants, animals and microbes. The products may be therapeutically useful or toxic.

Natural products chemistry endeavors to examine the natural source, mechanisms whereby the source biosynthetically constructs the product, processes whereby the product can be isolated from the source and techniques used to identify the product. These studies lay the ground work for the pharmacological evaulation of a potentially useful natural product or biochemical investigation of a natural toxin.

A plan of study in natural products would emphasize courses in natural products and medicinal chemistry, chemistry, botany, and microbiology with support courses in pharmacology and pharmaceutics.

Research in pharmaceutics involves all aspects of design, development, and evaluation of effective dosage forms/delivery systems, and entails one or more interdisciplinary areas that include physical pharmacy, pharmaceutical analysis, drug delivery, biopharmaceutics, and pharmacokinetics.

Study in physical pharmacy includes equilibria, complexation, preformulation stability of liquid and solid formulations, solubility, surface chemistry, diffusion and mass transport.

Study in pharmaceutical analysis includes spectroscopy, chromatography, extraction, and radio labeled assays.

Research in drug delivery involves physical and checmical approaches to deliver drug molecules to selected organs and tissues, and evaluation of drug delivery systems using in vitro models.

Research in biopharmaceutics considers the interrelationship of the physicochemical properties of drugs, the dosage form in which the drug is given, and the route of administration on the rate and extent of systemic drug absorption.

Study in pharmacokinetics deals with the time course of drug absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion.

Research in these areas offers interdisciplinary framework and provides comprehensive programs of course work leading to M.S. and Ph.D. degrees. The areas of specialization within pharmaceutics may range from strongly physicochemical to highly biological in orientation. The overall objective of our program is to educate and train individuals capable of conducting independent research with specialized knowledge in one of the above areas.

Pharmacology is the study of the effects of chemicals on living systems and may include the study of individual molecules and cells, tissues or whole organisms. The field of pharmacology occupies a central position in the continuum of biomedical sciences such that there are often unclear boundaries between pharmacology and, for example, the fields of toxicology, biochemistry, physiology, pathology and microbiology.

Training in this discipline offers the student a wide diversity of areas of inquiry and may prepare the student for a broad range of career opportunities in academia, industry and government.