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Pharmaceutical scientists trained at U.S. schools and colleges of pharmacy
are working on breakthrough technologies made possible by combinatorial
chemistry, in vitro biopharmaceutical techniques, analytical technologies,
bio-materials, and gene transfers-gene therapies such as:
- Accelerated chemical synthesis and biological screening of millions of compounds to identify as well as optimize structurally novel drug candidates
- Molecular-based assays using cloned enzymes to predict how the body will metabolize a promising drug candidate before large investments are made in development and animal testing
- Using cloned metabolizing enzymes or human tissue, scientists to analyze and predict toxicity problems and other associated costs prior to a drug's clinical investigation
- Implantation or injection of large molecules that are biocompatible over long periods of time to allow delivery of medication at controlled rates over the full course of therapy
- Providing a gene therapy in a stable form, targeted to a specific site, in a safely administered dosage system
Fundamental changes in drug discovery and development brought about by these new technologies are impacting graduate education in the pharmaceutical sciences both in the graduate curriculum and the research environment. The pharmaceutical sciences disciplines at U.S. colleges of pharmacy include:
- Medicinal/Pharmaceutical Chemistry: the design and synthesis of chemical/organic compounds with biological activity and potential use in treatment of disease
- Pharmaceutics: the design, fabrication, and evaluation of advanced drug delivery and advanced drug level management systems
- Toxicology: the analysis of adverse effects of new biologically active compounds on living systems, such as tissue injury, reproductive failure, immunosuppression, and cancer
- Pharmacology: the use of genetic, molecular, cellular, organ system, and whole animal techniques to examine mechanisms and consequences of drug interactions with living systems
- Natural Products Chemistry: the analysis, biosynthesis, production, metabolism, and mechanisms of action of pharmaceutically important plants, animals, and microbes
- Economic, Social, and Administrative Science: Economic analysis of pharmaceuticals, pharmaco-economic protocol development, pharmaceutical outcomes research, disease management protocols and processes, and management of pharmacy systems and organizations
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