Graduate Program

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Frequently Asked
Questions

Student Resources

Students

The Graduate Program in Pharmacology and Toxicology has dual aims of (1) advancing scientific knowledge, and (2) preparing students to become independent future scientists. The Program is housed within the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, which has a full-time graduate program faculty of 19. An additional 5 faculty from other departments are active members of the Graduate Program, bringing the total number of graduate program faculty to 24. These faculty provide a wide range of research opportunities for addressing pharmacology research questions at a wide variety of experimental levels, ranging from whole animal responses to specific drugs and toxins, to the structural and molecular basis of gene expression of specific receptors. Currently under investigation are such questions as:
  • How can image-based data, such as histochemistry or MRI, be quantitated?
  • What are the molecular mechanisms controlling cell proliferation?
  • What mechanisms underlie tissue homeostatis?
  • By what mechanisms do nonsteroidal anti-flammatory drugs inure the intestine?
  • How do signaling molecules such as protein kinases and GTP-binding proteins regulate various important cellular processes?
  • What neurotransmitters and receptors are involved in stress disorder, depression, and anxiety?
  • How do antischizophrenic drugs protect the brain from neurodegeneration?
  • What is the structural basis for the specificity of individual forms of cytochrome P450?
  • What patterns of neuroadaptations underlie withdrawal and reinstatement of drug-seeking in abstinent stimulant addicts?
  • What genetic and environmental determinants set the stage for vulnerability to addiction?

Thus, the program explores studies of mechanisms of carcinogenesis to the electrophysiological, biochemical and behavioral effects of drugs of abuse to the molecular mechanisms drugs and of hormone action. Currently 12 students, including one MD/PhD student, are at various stages of their dissertation work leading to a PhD degree in the Program. These students came to the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS) from a number of undergraduate institutions.

There is something to be said for preparing for your life's work in an atmosphere which fosters sharing and helpfulness, while maintaining a stringent scientific program. Although many people see scientific research as a life of introspective thought, in the current day, successful research is most frequently carried out in an atmosphere of interactive thought, with people with disparate backgrounds adding their special view to the problem. This program fosters such interactive research.

While the Program is designed for those students seeking a Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Toxicology and admits primarily those students, there are opportunities, under special circumstances, for Masters' degree candidates. The curriculum is designed to mesh seamlessly with the M.D. - Ph.D. Program, to enable students in the combined degree program to do their graduate work in Pharmacology and Toxicology.

The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences operates on a calendar of three 15-week terms, and students are normally scheduled for courses in each term.

Contact Information:





Kenneth M. Johnson, Jr., Ph.D. Penny Welsh
Graduate Program Director Graduate Program Coordinator
Email: kmjohnso@utmb.edu Phone: 409.772.9626
  Email: pwelsh@utmb.edu