Curriculum

We have two major focus areas relevant to pharmacological sciences and its practical applications: integrative in vivo pharmacology and modern drug discovery concepts. These are supplemented by learning in the rapidly developing areas of computational pharmacology and "big data". Our outstanding faculty trainers have deep and diverse expertise in these areas and the program employs a broad range of validated educational approaches to develop our IPSTP students in the pharmacological sciences.

The centerpiece of the training program is a pair of courses that encompass pharmacology principles, drug mechanisms, and drug classes/clinical applications. This is supplemented by coursework in experimental design and analysis, which covers statistics and the principles of rigorous experimental design and assessment of data reproducibility. Lastly, coursework in drug discovery and medicinal chemistry gives students a true understanding of how a molecule becomes medicine.

IPSTP students will participate in one week-long intensive Boot Camp on critical themes of the program (in vivo pharmacology, drug discovery assay development, and non-animal models). Students will also be provided non-classroom opportunities and workshops for career development planning, to develop critical thinking skills, grant writing experience, and a strong understanding of rigor and reproducibility and research ethics.