About the Department of Pharmacology

The Department of Pharmacology is one of five basic science departments in the Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine at The University of Iowa. The Department currently consists of 21 faculty members, holding either primary or joint appointments in Pharmacology, many of whom are nationally and internationally recognized for their research. The Department occupies almost 32,000 square feet of renovated space in the Bowen Science Building, a component of the Health Sciences Complex on the west bank of the Iowa River. Departmental laboratories are well-equipped for the pursuit of research, and our faculty members use a wide variety of experimental methodologies to address contemporary issues in cellular and molecular pharmacology. In addition to the broad range of departmental facilities, several core facilities supported by the Carver College of Medicine (such as the Gene Transfer and Vector Core, the Transgenic Animal Facility, the DNA Facility, the Central Microscopy Research Facilities, and the Flow Cytometry Facility), as well as the Hardin Library for Health Sciences are easily accessible to both faculty and students.

The Department offers a nationally recognized graduate training program. Formal training in pharmacology dates back to the late 1800's and 205 Ph.D.s have been awarded since 1931. In addition, 116 MS degrees have been conferred. The Department is a leader in graduate training in pharmacology and graduates of the Department have gone on to distinguished careers in academia, industry and government.

The graduate program provides research opportunities for highly qualified, motivated students in cellular and molecular pharmacology, integrative cardiovascular and autonomic pharmacology, and cellular and integrative neuropharmacology. Research is conducted in laboratories of independent, creative and productive faculty members whose work is published in highly respected, peer-reviewed journals. Important complements to the graduate training program are the active seminar series which brings outstanding scientists from around the country to the department as well as weekly journal clubs, directed by members of the faculty, which meet to present and critique the latest results from the scientific literature in pharmacology.

The Department has had a federally-supported predoctoral training program in Pharmacology for the past 50 years (first award in 1958), and has trained many of the current leaders and productive, well-recognized investigators in the pharmacological sciences.  In 2003, in recognition of the increasingly collaborative nature of research, the training grant was expanded and reconfigured as an interdisciplinary, interdepartmental and intercollegiate training program in the Pharmacological Sciences.  Over 40 faculty from 12 different departments and three different colleges function as trainers on this grant.  Their scholarly activities and diverse research interests, coupled with curriculum revisions, have fostered new research directions, new collaborations and provide a venue for first-rate, truly interdisciplinary training in the pharmacological sciences.

Research awards in the Department include 12 NIH grants (R01 or R21), 2 DOD awards and 3 non-federal grants.  The Department is also home to an NIH institutional training grant.  Finally, at any one time 30-40% of its graduate students are supported by individual extramural fellowships from NIH, PhRMA or AHA.  Collectively, the Department receives over $4 million annually in total costs in support of its research and training missions.