The PhD program in pharmaceutical sciences includes coursework as well as cutting-edge research focused on topics like discovery and evaluation of novel drugs, determination of a drug's effects on the body, delivery methods to improve drug treatment, and how medication is used and applied to enhance patient outcomes.

Because the scope of pharmaceutical sciences is so broad, our graduate program has a number of specialty disciplines:

Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy focuses on the interdisciplinary application of chemical, biochemical and molecular principles to the identification and development of therapeutic agents. This includes both synthesis of new chemical entities and isolation of medicinal agents from natural sources (pharmacognosy).

Pharmaceutics and Pharmacology focuses on pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics, with a special emphasis on drug delivery and targeting systems and on determination of biochemical and physiological mechanisms by which drugs exert their effects.

Outcomes and Translational Science conducts research across the interface from the laboratory bench to the patient bedside.

Admission to the PhD program does not first require application to the MS program.