Degree Track

Following the merger of the Center for Neurovirology and Neurodegenerative Disorders with the Department of Pharmacology's previously existing strengths in the area of neuroscience, the department now offers a neuroscience degree track to complement its long-standing pharmacology degree track.

Students in both tracks participate in highly integrated research programs that encompass cellular and molecular biology; systems physiology and integrative pharmacology; diverse areas of neurosciences including neurochemistry, neuropathology and neuropharmacology; and multiple aspects of cellular immunology, immunopathology, virology, and toxicology. Experimental systems range from molecular to cellular to whole organisms, all studied with state-of-the-art techniques in electrophysiology, genomics and proteomics, magnetic resonance imaging, fluorescence microscopy, immunochemistry, autoradiography, and spectroscopy.

Courses for the target="_self">pharmacology track focus on studies of drugs and their effects and clinical uses, with an emphasis on the drug receptors and cellular signaling pathways that mediate their actions.

Courses for the target="_self">neuroscience track focus on studies of neurons and other cells associated with the normal physiology and/or disease pathology of the central and autonomic nervous systems, with an emphasis on neuropharmacology, neurovirology, and neuroimmunology.

Because the research interests of all of the faculty in the department overlap in both areas, students can choose their mentor and dissertation research laboratory independent of which degree track they choose for their formal course work.

The department also offers the Master of Science (M.S.) degree, but students are currently admitted into the M.S. degree program only in special circumstances.