The Department of Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacology was established in 1978
and is situated on the second floor of the Clinical Building (502) at the Faculty of Medical
and Health Sciences'
Grafton Campus.
The Department is involved in the teaching of pharmacology and toxicology to medical
and science students, and has many active research programmes in diverse areas of
biomedical research. Rapid expansion has occurred recently and the Department now
has the largest number of postgraduate research students of any department in the
Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences.
What is Pharmacology and Toxicology?
Pharmacology involves the study and description of the actions of drugs and chemicals
on cells, tissues and the whole body. It includes finding out how drugs produce
beneficial and adverse effects, and improving the way drugs are tested to give greater
benefit in the treatment of disease. The cellular and chemical abnormalities of
disease states are studied in the expectation that molecules may be designed specifically
to correct the abnormality. The study of pharmacology requires the understanding
of normal
body functions (biochemistry and physiology) and the disturbances that occur.
Pharmacology is the basis of much of the research and development of new drugs.
The future of pharmacology is assured, as there remain many diseases for which neither
cure nor palliation have been devised - for example, Alzheimer’s disease, AIDS,
and
many forms of cancer. Even when a cure or treatment is available, few medicines
are perfect, and so research continues. In addition, other scientists
such as physiologists, biochemists and psychologists often find a knowledge of pharmacology
useful as they use drugs to probe and define the biological systems they are studying.
Toxicology is closely related to pharmacology, but specialises in the study of the
harmful effects of drugs and other chemicals on biological systems. A toxicologist
is trained to examine the nature of these effects, including their cellular, biochemical
and molecular mechanisms of action; and to assess the potential effects on human
health and environmental significance of various types of chemical exposures. The
variety of potential adverse effects and the diversity of chemicals in the environment
make toxicology a very broad science.
In brief, pharmacologists and toxicologists aim to develop a better understanding
of drugs and chemicals and their actions on biological systems for the improvement
of human and animal health.
Pharmacology and clinical pharmacology handbook(583.5KB PDF)
