Master's Program in Pharmaceutical Chemistry

Foundation: The Master's program in Pharmaceutical Chemistry was established in 2001.

Objective: The aim of this program is to provide graduate students with an integrated broad-based training in the various disciplines related to medicinal chemistry including the most advance research methodology in organic synthesis and the biosciences. The graduate program is designed to provide expertise in the chemical and biological areas through both course work and laboratory research experience. It is devoted to the education and training of students to become creative and independent investigators for positions in academic, industrial or government settings.

Medicinal chemistry, a combination of chemistry and the life sciences, is a multidisciplinary field that applies chemical principles to investigations of biologically-active substances that include therapeutically useful drugs, natural products and toxins. Investigations may be focused on identification of biological mechanisms of action, rational drug design and synthesis, metabolism studies, identification of pharmacological tools, or the development of techniques necessary to perform such studies.

Medicinal Chemistry is an interdisciplinary research area incorporating synthetic organic chemistry, biochemistry, pharmacology, molecular biology and pharmaceutical chemistry.

In addition to research, the curriculum consists of two general components: required courses and elective courses. All graduate students are required to take core courses and depending upon their interests, students select from a variety of elective courses such that their graduate program can be specifically tailored to their future research or career goals.