Contact: Dr. Richard Okita -- 301-594-3827
The NIGMS pharmacological sciences training grant program supports research training in pharmacology, toxicology, pharmaceutical chemistry, medicinal chemistry, pharmaceutics, and related areas. Because of the reliance of pharmacology on physiology, training in physiology is often included. Other areas in which students may conduct research include, but are not limited to: chemistry, biochemistry, molecular and cell biology, structural biology, biophysics, genetics, informatics and computational biology, neurobiology, neuropharmacology, psychiatry, immunology, microbiology, virology, pathology, cancer biology, experimental therapeutics, and various medical specialties (e.g., urology, gastroenterology, etc.).
The administrative center of a PS program may be in a school of medicine, a school of pharmacy, a school of veterinary medicine, or any other appropriate academic unit. However, the program should be interdisciplinary, interdepartmental, and preferably trans-institutional in its recruitment of potential students and faculty mentors.
The program should provide students with broad exposure to cutting-edge research relevant to the discovery and development of therapeutic agents and to the basic understanding of drug targets and mechanisms of action. Although pharmacology is central to the PS training program, the program does not exist to train pharmacologists, per se. The training of students in related disciplines is equally important to the overall NIGMS program objectives. It is expected that students supported by the PS program should receive training in the basic principles of pharmacology. On the other hand, pharmacology students supported by the program should also gain exposure to other areas of research. It may be appropriate to define multiple tracks that meet the different needs of students with varied backgrounds and objectives. Training in both traditional areas, such as in vivo and systems-based pharmacology, and new research areas, such as pharmacogenomics and combinatorial chemistry, is encouraged. Involvement of students in human clinical pharmacology and translational research is also highly encouraged, provided it does not compromise their ability to develop their own independent thesis projects.
The focus of any particular PS training program will depend on faculty research strengths and the existence of other training programs at the institution. At an institution that has no other NIGMS training grants, the PS program might be significantly broader than at an institution with multiple other NIGMS training grant awards. However, the existence of other training grants (e.g., chemistry-biology interface) should not automatically exclude any department from participation in the PS training program. In either case, it is important to establish a unique program of training and unique identity for the PS trainees. Not all programs are expected to cover the entire range of PS research activities. Some may have strength in molecular and cellular pharmacology, others may have strength in whole animal and human in vivo studies. Some may have a greater emphasis on toxicology than pharmacology, others may have a greater emphasis on medicinal chemistry and pharmaceutics. Overall, NIGMS seeks to maintain diversity and balance among the areas of research training supported by its portfolio of training grants.
