Emphasis in Pharmacological Sciences

MissionPharmacological Sciences is an interdisciplinary area emphasizing the  molecular and physiological mechanisms of drug action; drug discovery,  design and synthesis; or other areas of therapeutic innovation. The track thus encompasses a broad spectrum of scientific endeavors and approaches.  The goal is to provide an appropriate foundation for students who plan to pursue careers in any of these  areas  in either academia, medicine or industry.  It is administered by the Cell Regulation Graduate Program and the Department of Pharmacology, but graduate students in other programs or departments are welcome to participate.
RequirementsCourses:
Two courses are required for students interested in an emphasis in Pharmacological Sciences: Signal Transduction, parts 1 and 2 (3 units) and Mechanisms of Drug Action (3 units).  These courses can fulfill course requirements of some, but not all, of the graduate programs. 

Journal Club:
Students are required to participate in a weekly Pharmacology-based Journal Club.  The focus is self-evident.  The Journal Club is led by faculty from the Pharmacology department.  The Pharmacology Journal Club is offered within the Biological Chemistry and Cell Regulation programs and accepts additional participants as space allows.  Current Journal Club Schedule and Advisors

Works-in-Progress (WIPs), Qualifying Exam and Dissertation Committees:
These activities are dictated by the individual graduate programs for each student.

For additional information or to inquire about participation in the program contact: Paul Sternweis
 
FacultyTrack Chair:  David Mangelsdorf

Joseph Albanesi -- Mechanisms of membrane fusion; role of lipids in membrane trafficking; membrane vesiculation of dynamin.

Steven Altshuler -- Single cell perturbation analysis of cell signaling pathways.

Rolf A. Brekken -- Tumor-host interactions in pancreatic cancer.

Yuh Min Chook -- Structures and mechanisms of nuclear transport and the nuclear pore complex.

Melanie Cobb -- Protein kinase cascades; MAP kinases; signal-transduction mechanisms.

David R. Corey -- Engineering proteins and nucleic acids for novel function.

J. R. Falck -- Total synthesis of natural products; synthetic methodology; organometalics; eicosanoids; medicinal chemistry.

Kevin H. Gardner -- NMR-based structural studies of proteins involved in transcriptional regulation.

Alfred Gilman -- Hormonal regulation of cyclic AMP metabolism; mechanisms of control of hormone-sensitive adenylate cyclase; regulatory GTP-binding proteins.

Joel Goodman -- Intracellular sorting of newly synthesized proteins; organelle biogenesis and membrane structure and function; the yeast peroxisome as a model of organellar assembly.

Stephen Hammes -- Analysis of nongenomic steroid signaling; progesteronemediated maturation of oocytes.

Jin Jiang -- Signal-transduction pathways in development and human disease; genetic control of organ growth and patterning; tumor suppressor genes.

Jane E. Johnson -- Molecular biology of mammalian neural development.

Steven Kliewer -- Physiology of nuclear receptors.

Mark Lehrman -- Informational carbohydrates in the endoplasmic reticulum:  roles in protein folding, stress responses and human disease.

David Mangelsdorf -- Mechanism of nuclear hormone receptor action; role of retinoids in cancer; transcriptional regulation of lipid metabolism.

Timothy L. Megraw -- Structure and function of centrosomes in cell division and gametogenesis.

John Minna -- Molecular genetics of human cancer; growth factors and signal transduction in human tumors.

Marc Mumby -- Signaling pathways controlling cell growth and transformation

Keith L. Parker - Gene regulation of steroidogenic tissue differentiation; nuclear hormone receptors; hypothalamic obesity.

Margaret Phillips -- Polyamine and pyrimidine metabolism in trypanosome and malaria parasites.

Rama Ranganathan -- Structural basis for signal processing in Drosophila photoreceptors.

Jose Rizo-Rey -- Structural analysis by nuclear magnetic resonance of proteins involved in calcium-triggered synaptic vesicle exocytosis.

Michael Rosen -- Analysis of the structural, biochemical, and cell biological mechanisms that regulate the actin cytoskeleton.

Elliott Ross -- Mechanisms and regulatory behavior of G-protein signaling; regulated protein-protein interactions in signal transduction.

Dean Smith -- Sensory transduction in Drosophila melanogaster.

Paul Sternweis -- Regulation of intracellular events by cell-surface receptors; structure and function of GTP-dependent regulatory proteins and their effectors.

Ronald Taussig -- G protein-mediated signaling.

Jonathan Terman -- Axonal growth and guidance; neuronal connectivity; axonal regeneration.

Philip Thorpe -- Development of novel angiogenesis inhibitors and agents for inducing thrombosis of tumor blood vessels for cancer treatment.

Thomas Wilkie -- Signal-transduction pathways in mammalian development and energy homeostasis.

Lani Wu -- Design principles in biological networks.

Hongtao Yu -- Study of cell division cycle.

Guang Zhao -- Growth factor-mediated signal transduction in embryonic stem-cell biology, germ-cell fate determination and nuclear reprogramming.

Yingming Zhao -- Functional proteomics and mass spectrometry.