Training Program in Pharmacology

University Of California At Davis, Davis CA

Investigators

Linked publications, trials & patents

Abstract

Enter the text here that is the new abstract information for your application. This section must be no longer than 30 lines of text. The overarching goal of this predoctoral Training Program in Pharmacology (TPPh) is to educate next generation of biomedical researchers in the concepts of drug discovery and development, including a clinical perspective. The four focus areas of this TPPh are cardiovascular, neurological, and immunological diseases and cancer. UC Davis is a world leader in drug development with multiple trainers bringing drugs to the clinic (most recently Dr. Rogawski the novel post-partum antidepressant Brexanolone) and biologics including gene therapy vectors with >20 ongoing clinical trials (Director Dr. Nolta). Trainees from Pharmacology & Toxicology, Physiology, Biomedical Engineering and Neuroscience develop expertise in various scientific areas. This reaches from classic pharmacology & drug target identification with cutting edge methods in biochemistry, structural biology, genomics & proteomics, molecular and cell biology, high & superresolution imaging, electrophysiology, and behavioral physiology, to in silico structural modeling and rational drug design, medicinal chemistry, engineering of microfluidic and other devices, animal models of disease, novel in vivo whole animal imaging and translational therapeutics in clinical trials including stem cell and genetic therapies. The TPPh will provide focused and student-tailored small group training in the core principles of pharmacology for non-pharmacology trainees, and enmesh these students with pharmacology students for interdisciplinary group learning in drug development. A related goal is to enable all trainees to communicate and collaborate across the large array of research disciplines they represent. This goal is mainly realized in a highly innovative student-driven, project-oriented course Problem Solving in Pharmacological Sciences, which reinvents itself every year based on student initiative and interest. In this way our TPPh produces experts with a variety of backgrounds that can effectively communicate and collaborate with experts from other related disciplines in the increasingly complex realm of drug development. UC Davis grants more bachelors and doctoral degrees in biological sciences than any other U.S. university. It received $941 million in extramural research funding in 2019/20, which places it, as in earlier years, among the top 10 public universities. The 32 training faculty are from 14 departments in 6 colleges, where extensive collaborative interactions already exist. Trainers provide in depth expertise that ranges from identifying novel therapeutic molecular targets and development of therapeutic molecules to clinical drug and stem cell trials at the NIH funded UC Davis Clinical and Translational Science Center (CTSC) and NIH-designated Cancer Center. Powerful and numerous state-of-the-art core facilities and centers will provide trainees with outstanding research opportunities spanning from Chemistry’s emphasis on pharmaceutical chemistry to unique animal models (internationally recognized mouse biology center, Agricultural & Veterinary Schools, Primate Center).