Our Department

We are a unique unit, the only one of its kind in US academic institutions, with research and graduate training programs in pharmacology and nutritional sciences within one basic science department.  Pharmacology, as a discipline, is an area of biomedical sciences that will almost surely grow in importance, as the biomedical research community, government, and pharmaceutical industry strive to utilize new scientific advances to develop therapies for the health and welfare of an aging society.  Similarly, nutritional sciences is a research area of increasing importance as a large majority of chronic diseases that adversely influence the health of the US population have a nutritional basis in disease prevention, development, and therapy.  We have merged these pivotal research and training programs into a single, multidisciplinary and collaborative environment that focuses on the development of nutritionally-based concepts and pharmacologic entities for the treatment of chronic diseases. 

We offer the unique attributes of having expertise in pharmacology and/or nutritional sciences that are applied to research and graduate training, while also having opportunities for interdisciplinary cross-talk and collaboration.  Our faculty are trained in the individual disciplines of pharmacology and/or nutritional sciences, with research emphases in the areas of brain cognition and aging, cancer, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases (e.g., obesity, diabetes).  We offer traditional graduate training programs in the individual disciplines of pharmacology and nutritional sciences, and our programs have strong records in the training of biomedical scientists and health care professionals.  What makes us unique is that our environment promotes cross-talk and breaks down barriers in research and training between two disciplines that have an immense impact on chronic disease processes. 

Think about it, virtually every chronic disease is prevented and/or treated by a combination of lifestyle (e.g., nutrition) and pharmacologically-based therapies.  We invite you to explore the worlds of pharmacology and nutritional sciences in an integrative and collaborative environment that fosters individuality while promoting interdisciplinary research.