Herbert Samuels, Chairman

The Department of Pharmacology was established in 1902 and was among the first to be formed in an American Medical School. Teaching of medical and graduate students receives strong support from the various research programs ongoing in the department. The Department has always attracted faculty with training in various basic science and clinical disciplines. This has fostered research in a number of key areas of biology and has kept the department in the forefront of advances in science. This strength is most evident in the ongoing pioneering studies on the regulation of cell growth and communication between cells.

The department has 33 faculty members. Their training is quite varied and some of them hold joint appointments in clinical departments. Their research is being carried out in modern laboratories within the Medical Center. A great asset to the department is the large number of graduate and medical students receiving Ph.D.s since 1981. Currently there are 21 students enrolled in this program.

Research and education are the main missions of the Department of Pharmacology. The faculty of the Department have strength in a number of important and interrelated areas related to the Pharmacological Sciences. These include: 1) Functional and genetic analysis of signal transduction by surface membrane receptors, 2) Nuclear homone receptors and/or regulation of gene expression, 3) Regulation and development of signaling pathways related to neurons, ion channels, synapses, and the neuromuscular junction, and 4) Protein structure related to receptor signaling. The faculty include internationally recognized scientists who have an extensive track record of training graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.

Graduate Study

Graduate study in the Molecular Pharmacology Training Program (MPTP) is conducted as a part of the Sackler Institute of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, which is included in the NYU Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. We have a prestigious institutional NIH training grant that supports some of our students. The first year of study is devoted to major courses, seminars, and laboratory rotations. Subsequent years involve additional course work, thesis research, and the writing of a dissertation. All Program students participate in a biweekly Work-In-Progress forum, in which they present their doctoral work. No graduate students are accepted for part-time study. All students in the program receive a stipend of $27,000 per year and remission for tuition for 24 credits per year. Students are guaranteed Medical Center housing. Prospective students should download the Sackler Application.