Attached to this Description Programs of Study The Program in Pharmacological Sciences offers programs leading to M.S. and Ph.D. degrees, with opportunities for specialization in neuropharmacology or behavioral pharmacology and drugs of abuse. Students follow a core curriculum during the first year. The second-year curriculum continues the specialization of the student's program, along with instruction in medical pharmacology. The basic course work is structured around research activity, and the program fosters participation in laboratory-based research soon after a student enters the program.
Students have a highly diverse roster of research programs to consider.
In addition, many faculty members interact via close collaborations, offering students even wider opportunities for training. Research activities in the program reflect the highly interdisciplinary nature of pharmacology. Areas of investigation range from molecular biological approaches to electrophysiological studies to behavior analyses. Neuropharmacology studies include the molecular physiology of neurotransmitter receptors and channels, pharmacological regulation of neurotransmitter receptors, neurochemical control of food intake, molecular mechanisms in signal transduction, and molecular controls in synaptic communication. Behavioral pharmacology and drugs of abuse studies involve neural mechanisms underlying learning and memory, effects of neurotoxic and psychotropic drugs on classical conditioning, role of central monoaminergic pathways in behavioral actions of drugs of abuse, developmental alterations in neuroanatomical structures in drug abuse, and addiction.