Pharmacology and Toxicology

Welcome to the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, the professional home to 18 faculty, 11 research faculty, 22 graduate students and 3 postdoctoral fellows. The department will celebrate its 50th Anniversary on June 5-6, 2009.  We hope that Alumni and friends will join us for the celebration in Little Rock!

We offer graduate training leading to the Ph.D. degree in Pharmacology or Interdisciplinary Toxicology.  Our faculty also participates in the Interdisciplinary Biological Sciences (IBS) training programs.  Trainees receive a broad-based education to prepare for a career in translational research.  An emphasis on therapeutic development, identification of drug targets and mechanisms of organ injury prepare our trainees for a career in drug discovery and medical toxicology.  All of our students currently receive a $24,000 yearly stipend and we pay tuition!

Our “magnet areas” for research include behavioral and drug abuse pharmacology, drug discovery and antibody therapeutics, mechanisms and therapies of organ toxicology and neurodegenerative diseases, and CNS and vascular ion channels.  Extramural research funding obtained by the faculty has increased to more than 5 million annually, and the Department ranks in the top quarter of all medical school pharmacology departments in the country in NIH funding.
 
We are proud of our more than 160 alumni, who have graduated from our training programs.  Many hold obtained academic, industrial and teaching positions at institutions across the country and worldwide.  Basic research training is the key to providing excellence in graduate education and opens a portal for new drug discoveries. The proof of our commitment to outstanding research and graduate education is evidenced by the success of our graduates.

- Nancy J. Rusch, Chair