Department of Pharmacology (GRAD)
The Department of Pharmacology offers a program of study that leads to the degree of doctor of philosophy in pharmacology. The curriculum is individualized in recognition of the diverse backgrounds and interests of students and the broad scope of the discipline of pharmacology.
The department offers a variety of research areas including
- Receptors and signal transduction
- Ion channels
- Neuropharmacology
- Cancer pharmacology
- Gene therapy
- Pharmacology of alcohol and drugs of abuse
The student is expected to begin independent research early in his or her training and to participate in an intensive program of research seminars. Close personal contact between preceptor and trainee is encouraged.
Research Facilities
Laboratory facilities and a variety of research equipment are available in the department, which is located primarily in the Genetic Medicine Building, where it occupies approximately 30,000 square feet (exclusive of classrooms and animal facilities). In addition, several faculty members are located in the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Thurston Bowles Alcohol Center, and the Neurosciences Building.
Assistantships and Other Student Aid
All graduate students in pharmacology are provided a competitive stipend. UNC–Chapel Hill tuition and fees and health insurance are also covered.
Requirements for Admission
All students in the basic science departments in the Medical School and the biological sciences divisions in biology and chemistry enter graduate school through the Biological and Biomedical Sciences Program. During the first year students take courses and complete three rotations in laboratories from any of the participating departments or curricula.
After identifying a research mentor, if that faculty member is affiliated with the Pharmacology Department, students can choose to join the pharmacology graduate program. Once in the program, students complete required coursework and qualifying examinations, propose a research topic, choose a dissertation committee, and engage in dissertation research. The anticipated duration of training is five years.
The pharmacology graduate program is dedicated to the training of outstanding scientists in the pharmacological sciences. An outstanding graduate program is a high priority of the department, and the training faculty participate fully at all levels. The department has the highest level of NIH funding of all pharmacology departments and a great diversity of research areas is available to trainees. These areas include cell surface receptors, G proteins, protein kinases, and signal transduction mechanisms; neuropharmacology; nucleic acids, cancer, and antimicrobial pharmacology; and experimental therapeutics. Cell and molecular approaches are particularly strong, but systems-level research such as behavioral pharmacology and analysis of knock-in and knock-out mice is also well-represented. Excellent physical facilities are available for all research areas.
Students completing the training program will have acquired basic knowledge of pharmacology and related fields, in-depth knowledge in their dissertation research area, the ability to evaluate scientific literature, mastery of a variety of laboratory procedures, skill in planning and executing an important research project in pharmacology, and the ability to communicate results, analysis, and interpretation. These skills provide a sound basis for successful scientific careers in academia, government, or industry.
To apply to BBSP, students must use The Graduate School's online application form. They should read carefully the information for domestic or international applicants before beginning the application. For Question 2 of the application, applicants should scroll down to School of Medicine and select "Biological and Biomedical Sciences" from the dropdown list.
The following materials are required for an application to be considered complete:
- Nonrefundable application fee (the department cannot review the application until this is paid)
- Copies of each of the student's transcripts
- Letters of recommendation (submit online)
- Personal statement (submit online)
- GRE scores (must be less than five years old; UNC–Chapel Hill institution code is 5816)
- TOEFL score (must be less than two years old and is necessary only if the student is an international applicant who does not have an undergraduate degree from a United States university)
For Graduate School information and submission of application materials, please consult the Graduate School Admissions Office Web site.
For program information and submission of application materials, prospective applicants may write to the following address:
BBSP Admissions
130 Mason Farm Road
1125 Bioinformatics Bldg.
CB#7108
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7108
Telephone: (919) 843-6960
Email: bbsp@unc.edu
Pharmacology, Ph.D.
The basic course requirements for the Ph.D. degree include introductory and advanced courses in pharmacology and related programs in accord with the principal interest of the students in molecular pharmacology, neuropharmacology, or toxicology. In addition, in order to satisfy the requirements of the department and The Graduate School, the student must pass written and oral doctoral examinations, write a dissertation based on original research, and submit to a final oral examination. Under special circumstances the department will offer a program leading to the M.S. degree. The requirements are appropriate coursework, a written comprehensive examination, a thesis based on original research, and a final oral examination.
Course Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Core Courses | ||
| PHCO 701 | Introduction to Molecular Pharmacology | 3 |
| PHCO 702 | Principles of Pharmacology and Physiology | 3 |
| BBSP 710 | Biostatistics for Laboratory Scientists 1 | 2 |
| PHCO 730 | Seminar in Recent Advances in Pharmacology | 1 |
| PHCO 732 | Grant Writing | 2 |
| Electives | ||
| Select from the elective course options below or any 600 level course or above in the hard sciences. | 4 | |
| Thesis/Substitute or Dissertation | ||
| PHCO 994 | Doctoral Research and Dissertation 2 | 12 |
| Minimum Hours | 27 | |
- 1
Can be substituted by an equivalent grad-level class in statistics – PL – depending on the substitution, this could result in 2 fewer credits being required.
- 2
This 3-credit course must be taken four times for a total credit of 12. Most students will take about 20 – 30 credits of PHCO 994, far more than the 12 required credits.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Pharmacology Elective Course Options | ||
| PHCO 667 | Macromolecular Crystallographic Methods | 2 |
| PHCO 669 | Macromolecular Crystallographic Methods II | 1 |
| PHCO 728 | Neuropharmacology of Alcohol and Substance Use | 3 |
| PHCO 733 | Drug Discovery and Development | 2 |
| PHCO 737 | Target-Based Drug Discovery and Cancer Treatment | 2 |
| PHCO 740 | Contemporary Topics in Cell Signaling: Phosphorylation Control | 1 |
| PHCO 741 | Contemporary Topics in Cell Signaling: GTPases | 1 |
| PHCO 742 | Contemporary Topics in Cell Signaling: Cell Cycle Control | 1 |
| PHCO 743 | Contemporary Topics in Cell Signaling: Signaling Networks | 1 |
| PHCO 744 | Topics on Stem Cells and Development | 2 |
| PHCO 745 | Intercellular Signaling in Development and Disease | 1 |
| PHCO 749 | Practical RNA-Seq | 2 |
| PHCO 750 | Proteomics Methods and Applications | 1.0 |
Milestones
The following list of milestones (non-course degree requirements) must be completed; view this list of standard milestone definitions for more information.
- Doctoral Committee
- Doctoral Written Exam 2
- Prospectus Oral Exam
- Advanced to Candidacy
- Dissertation Defense
- Doctoral Dissertation Approved/Format Accepted
- Residence Credit
- Doctoral Exit Survey
Professors
James Bear, Cell Motility, Migration, and Cancer Metastasis1
Jean Cook, Cell Cycle Control in Human Cells
Adrienne D. Cox, Ras Family Oncogenes, Lipid Modification and Protein Function1
Fulton T. Crews, Excitotoxicity, Gene Delivery, Neuroprogenetor Stem Cells and Addiction
Blossom Damania, Intersection of Viruses, Cancer Biology and Immunology with the Goal of Treating Virus-Associated Cancers.1
Channing Der, Ras Protein Superfamily, Signal Transduction and Oncogenesis
J. Alex Duncan, Inflammation and Immune Response and Host Pathogen Interactions1
H.G. Dohlman, Receptor and Signal Transduction: Mechanisms of Drug Desensitization1
H. Shelton Earp, Growth Regulation, Growth Factor and Protein Kinases1
Timothy Elston, Mathematical Modeling of G-Protein and MAP Kinase Signaling
Michael Emanuele, Cell Cycle, Mitosis, Protein Stability, Ubiquitin, Cancer, Genetics, Cell Biology
Shawn Gomez, Computational Biology, Systems Biology, Cancer1
Lee M. Graves, Kinome Proteomics and Signal Transduction, Cancer Drug Resistance
Klaus Hahn, Development of Fluorophores for Site-Specific Protein Labeling, Live Cell Biosensors and Their Biological Applications, Motility, Apoptosis, and Crosstalk in Signaling
Clyde Hodge, Molecular Mechanisms Mediating the Reinforcing/Pleasurable Subjective Effects of Alcohol and Other Drugs1
Brian Jensen, Transthoracic and Transesophageal Echocardiography, Heart Failure, Myocardial Biology, Adrenergic Receptor Biology1
Gary L. Johnson, Receptors/G-Proteins, Defining the Signal Relay Systems Initiated by Various Cellular Stimuli (Including Cytokines), Growth Factors, Antigens, and Drugs Used to Treat Human Disease
Alan Jones, Heterotrimeric G-Protein Signaling in Model Systems1
Thomas Kash, Neurophysiological Alterations Underlying Dysregulated Emotional Behavior
Terrance Kenakin, Drug Discovery and Development for Seven Transmembrane Receptors, Protein Allosteric Mechanisms/Signal Efficacy
William Kim, Cancer Genetics
David Lawrence, Chemical Biology of Signal Transduction1
Nigel Mackman, Role of Tissue Factor in Hemostasis, Thrombosis and Ischemia-Reperfusion (I/R), Injury1
Leslie Morrow, Molecular Neuropharmacology of GABA Receptors and Alcohol
Robert A. Nicholas, G-Protein-Coupled P2Y Receptors, Mechanisms of Antibiotic Resistance1
Bryan Roth, Regulation of Signaling and Trafficking, Drug Discovery
Janet Rubin, Mechanical and Hormonal Control of Bone Remodeling, Mesenchymal Stem Cell Differentiation, and Osteoporosis1
R. Jude Samulski, Development of Efficient Viral Vectors for Gene Delivery into Eukaryotic Genes
John Sondek, X-Ray Crystallography and Transmembrane Signaling
Juan Song, Adult Neurogenesis Function and Regulation
Susan Sumner, Precision Nutrition, Personalized Medicine, Biomarkers, Metabolomics and Integrated-Omics1
Jen Jen Yeh, Gene Expression Profiling of Human Tumors; Study, Development, and Evaluation of Novel Therapeutics; Pancreatic and Colorectal Cancer1
Samuel Young, Genetics and Metabolism
Yanping Zhang, Molecular Basis of Cancer1
Associate Professors
J. Mauro Calabrese, Epigenetic Control by Long Noncoding RNAs, Genomics, Stem Cells, Cancer, Human Genetic Disorders
James Fiordalisi
Laura Herring, UNC Metabolomics and Proteomics
Zoe McElligott, Substance Abuse, Anxiety and Depression
Yinglong Miao, Biomolecular Modeling, Cellular Signaling, Computer-Aided Drug Design
Somnanth Mukhopadhyay, Cannabinoid and G-Protein Coupled Receptor-Mediated Regulation of Neurogenesis and Angiogenesis
Nathan Nicely, Macromolecular Crystallography & Protein Expression and Purification Cores
Kevin Pruitt, Wnt Signaling, Disheveled, Cancer Epigenetics, Aromatase, Tumor Microenvironment (TME), Post-Translational Modifications (PTMs), Nuclear Localization
Kimberly Ritola
Gregory Scherrer, Pain and Opioids 1
William Zamboni, Application of Pharmacokinetic, Pharmacodynamic, and Pharmacogenetic Principles in the Optimization of the Chemotherapeutic Treatment of Cancer, Nanoparticle Drug Delivery 1
Qisheng Zhang, Lipid Signaling in Development and Disease1
Assistant Professors
Maria Aleman, Non-Malignant Hematology with a Focus on Erythropoiesis, RNA Regulation, and Iron Metabolism
Edward Bahnson, Vascular Biology, Redox Biology, Vascular Disease, Drug Delivery 1
Adriana Beltran Lopez, Human Pluripotent Cell Core Genetics 1
Nicholas G. Brown, Cell Cycle, Mitosis, Ubiquitin Ligases, Anaphase Promoting Complex
Elizabeth Brunk, Multi-Omics Data Integration, Cancer Genomics, Machine Learning & Bioinformatics, Functional Precision Medicine
Kirsten Bryant, Autophagy, Pancreatic Cancer, Cancer Metabolism, RAS Oncogenes, Molecular Therapeutics
Leon Coleman, Immune Mechanisms in Drug Addiction and Critical Illness, Neurodegeneration, Extracellular Vesicle Signaling
Daniel Dominguez, Gene Regulation, RNA Processing and RNA Binding Proteins in Cell Signaling and Disease
Laura Ferguson, Alcohol Use Disorders
Melissa Herman, How Structural Changes of Inhibitory Neuronal Networks Contribute to Addiction and Stress
Wesley R. Legant, Microscopy, 3D Image Analysis, Biomaterials, Cell Migration, Cancer Metastasis, Tissue Engineering
John Morris, Oncogene & Tumor Suppressor Networks, Malignant Specification & Lineage Plasticity, Evolution of Cancer Epigenetic & Genomic Heterogeneity
Adam Palmer, Combination Cancer Therapy
Laura Rupprecht, Gut-Brain Mechanisms Underlying Substance Use Disorder
Jonathan C. Schisler, Cardiovascular Genomics, Proteinopathies, and Cellular Metabolism in Neuronal and Cardiovascular Disease
Jessica Walsh, Neural Circuit Mechanisms Underlying Motivated Behavior, Neurodevelopmental & Psychiatric Disorders, Functional & Anatomical Mapping of the Brain
Adjunct Professors
Antoinio Baines, Molecular Targets Involved in the Transformation of Pancreatic Cancer1
John Cidlowski, Glucocorticoid Hormone Action1
Jeffrey Diberto
Thomas Helton
Ekhson Holmuhamedov1
Sommath Mukhopadhyay, Cannabinoid and G-Protein Coupled Receptor-Mediated Regulation of Neurogenesis and Angiogenesis
Ricardo Richardson1
Ryan Strachan
Enrique Teran
Professors Emeriti
T. Kendall Harden
Alan Jones
Rudolph L. Juliano
Ryszard Kole
Ken McCarthy
Gene A. Scarborough
- 1
joint faculty members
PHCO
Graduate-level Courses
Permission of the instructor. A first-year pharmacology course outlining the basics of molecular pharmacology, including molecular biology, drug and receptor interactions, receptors and ion channels, regulation of second messengers, and drug metabolism. Three lecture hours a week.
Introduces students to the major areas of pharmacology and physiology and serves as a basis for more advanced courses. Three lecture hours a week.
Basic principles of pharmacology and behavior analysis are considered in relation to drugs that affect the central nervous system.
Cellular and physiological basis of toxicity of environmental chemicals, with emphasis on inhalation toxicology, developmental toxicology, immunotoxicology, radiation toxicology, renal toxicology, and neurotoxicology. Three lecture hours per week.
Permission of the department. This course explores the experimental and theoretical function of the nervous system. Typically, the first hour is fundamental material presentation and the second hour may be a presentation led by the students. Topics covered include: cellular diversity in the CNS, gross brain anatomy, human and rodent brain imaging, neuromolecular genetics, behavioral methods, membrane potentials/resistance/capacitance, ion channel structure, electrophysiology and propagation of electrical signals in neurons. Basic undergraduate biology, chemistry, physics and intro calculus is assumed.
Permission of the department. Consideration of membrane receptor molecules activated by neurotransmitters in the nervous system with emphasis on ligand binding behavior and molecular and functional properties of different classes of receptors. Course meets for four weeks with six lecture hours per week.
Seminar/discussion course on molecular aspects of the receptors, G-proteins, effector proteins, kinases, and phosphatases that mediate hormone, neurotransmitter, growth factor, and sensory signaling.
Examines the growing number of families of cell adhesion receptors and their role in biological processes including signal transduction, control of gene expression, hemostasis, cancer, neuronal development, immunobiology, and embryologic development.
Seminar/discussion course on the physiology, pharmacology, biochemistry, and molecular biology of ion channel proteins.
A lecture/discussion course on the biological bases of alcohol and substance abuse.
A seminar/discussion course on recent advances in targeted gene delivery and gene therapy.
Students meet as a group with faculty members to develop skills in critical reading and to summarize and discuss selected aspects of current pharmacological literature. Two hours a week. Fall and spring.
A discussion course covering the elements of successful grant proposals and scientific ethics.
A seminar/discussion course on the research, development, and regulatory processes involved in bringing new drugs to clinical use.
A lecture/discussion course on pain transmission and pain measurement. The neuropharmacological basis of pain modulation will be discussed.
Lecture/discussion course covering a variety of aspects of new biological and computational technologies. The course is predominantly in a lecture format with computer-based and literature assignments.
A seminar/discussion course to evaluate the use of small molecule inhibitors of protein kinases from a structural and signal transduction perspective.
A lecture/discussion course that emphasizes preclinical and clinical studies for the development of anti-cancer drugs that target signal transduction. Topics include: target identification and validation, drug discovery, the process of government approval for clinical trials, design of clinical trials, and new genetic-based technologies to foster drug development.
The objective of this new elective is to provide graduate students with an overview of stem cell biology with a unique emphasis on the applications of stem cells in pharmacology, particularly in areas of cancer and tissue regeneration.
Required preparation, coursework in biochemistry, pharmacology and/or cell & molecular biology. Permission of the instructor. This graduate-level course is an in-depth analysis of how protein kinases and protein phosphorylation regulates key aspects of cell signaling. This class is one of the "Contemporary Topics in Cell Signaling" modules.
Required preparation, coursework in biochemistry, pharmacology, and/or cell & molecular biology. Permission of the instructor. This graduate-level course conveys principles of signal transduction controlled by GTPases and emphasizes in-depth discussion of current literature and unanswered questions. This class is one of the "Contemporary Topics in Cell Signaling" modules.
Permission of the instructor. Required preparation, coursework in biochemistry and/or cell & molecular biology. This graduate-level course conveys principles of eukaryotic cell proliferation control emphasizing in-depth discussion of current literature and unanswered questions. This class is one of the Contemporary Topics in Cell Signaling modules.
Acquire the scientific vocabulary of the signaling network field. Master key concepts from mathematical characterization of signaling circuits. Develop and apply critical analysis skills.
Required preparation, coursework in genetics, cell biology, and molecular biology. Permission of the instructor. Course addresses key issues in developmental biology focused on the role of stem cells and emphasizes in-depth discussion of current literature and unanswered questions. One of the Contemporary Topics in Cell Signaling modules.
This graduate-level course concentrates on up-to-date views of intercellular signal processing, with emphasis on signal transduction mechanisms as they relate to cellular/physiological responses in both normal development and disease. Signaling mechanisms that will be discussed include autocrine, paracrine, juxtacrine signaling and cell-matrix interactions.
This course will introduce computer vision methods for cell biology. Each topic will be motivated with an explanation of a computational challenge, followed by a discussion of available techniques to address the need and practical examples for how to apply the techniques.
Overview of structures and biological determinants of conditions and diseases of the oral cavity. Both growth and development and pathophysiology will be introduced in the context of three areas of oral biology: biology of extracellular matrices, host-pathogens interactions, and orofacial neurobiology.
This course is designed to familiarize students with everything needed to run an RNA-Seq experiment. There will be minimal emphasis on theory and heavy focus on practical aspects. There are no formal prerequisites required for this course and no prior experience with UNIX or the command line interface is expected.
This course will familiarize graduate students with the fundamental concepts of mass spectrometry-based proteomics with emphasis on its applications (expression proteomics, post-translational modification identification, and interactomics) and practical aspects of these applications, such as experimental design, sample preparation and data interpretation. This course is intended for 2nd year students and above who currently use or plan to use proteomics in their research.
A combined lecture/laboratory workshop for serious students of protein crystallography. Course intended primarily for graduate students.
Permission of the department.
Permission of the department. Research in various aspects of neurobiology. Six to 24 hours a week.
Permission of the department.
Permission of the department.
Department of Pharmacology
Chair
Henrik Dohlman
