The Department of Pharmacology is a leading center for research and training in the discipline of pharmacology, and is renowned for its strength in defining basic cellular and molecular mechanisms of signal transduction, elucidating molecular structure and function, and using computational science to translate basic knowledge into drug discovery relevant to treatment of cancer, cardiovascular and neurological diseases.

Drug Discovery

Disease Models

Cell Signaling

Announcements

U.S. News & World Report
ranked UC San Diego's
Department of Pharmacology
Second in Best Global Universities for Pharmacology and Toxicology in 2018

Department of Pharmacology
Ranked second in Total NIH Funding for 2018

_________________________

Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences is proud to announce the launch of their new M.S. in Drug Development & Product Management degree program. The first class of students will commence September 2018.

Seminars

Cutting-edge seminars are hosted almost every Tuesday in the UC San Diego Department of Pharmacology.

Upcoming Seminars:

Tuesday, November 12, 2019
Jennifer Grandis, M.D.
UC San Francisco
“Head and neck cancer precision medicine”
12:00 pm, Leichtag Building, Room 107

Tuesday, November 26, 2019
Morag Park, Ph.D.
McGill University
“Tumor zonation and immune microenvironments specify triple negative breast"
12:00 pm, Leichtag Building, Room 107

View the 2019-2020 Seminar Schedule

2019-2020 Pharmacology Research Discussions Schedule

In the News

October 2019

Congratulations to J. Silvio Gutkind, PhD who was elected to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM).

Congratulations to Jin Zhang, PhD for being a recipient of the 2019 Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Postdoctoral Scholar Mentoring.

September 2019

Congratulations to Alexandra Newton, PhD who was selected for the 2020 BPS Award in the Biophysics of Health and Disease by the Biophysical Society.

August 2019

Alexandra Newton, PhD is featured in "Single Enzyme Helps Drive Inflammation in Mice, Provides Target for New Sepsis Drugs."

Congratulations to Edward Dennis, PhD who was selected for the 2020 Bert and Natalie Vallee Award in Biomedical Science by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB).

May 2019

Richard Daneman, PhD is featured in "Thwarting a Protein Reverses Brain Decline in Aged Mice."

April 2019

Michael Karin, PhD and Elsa Sanchez-Lopez, PhD are featured in "In Mice, Eliminating Damaged Mitochondria Alleviates Chronic Inflammatory Disease."

Congratulations to Jin Zhang, PhD who was selected for the 2019 International Chemical Biology Society (ICBS) Global Lectureship by the ICBS Board of Directors which was created to recognize distinguished investigators whose research has significantly advanced the field of chemical biology.

March 2019

Alexandra Newton, PhD is featured in "Balance of Two Enzymes Linked to Pancreatic Cancer Survival." In addition to potentially aiding diagnosis and prognosis, the finding launches new effort to treat pancreatic cancer by inhibiting one enzyme and boosting the other.

JoAnn Trejo, PhD. is featured in "Not Just Checking a Box." How UC San Diego Health Sciences is working to enhance faculty diversity for the betterment of science, education and patient care.

Jing Yang, PhD was featured in "How Metastasizing Cancer Cells Lose Their Way — and How to Restore It."

All News

Events

April 2019
Pharmacology faculty attend the Experimental Biology meeting in Orlando, Florida.

Pictured are (L-R) Drs. K. Brandl, P. Taylor, S. Gutkind, T. Handel, P. Insel, J. Trejo, J. Zhang, J. Heller Brown and A. Newton.

February 2019
Nobel Laureate Dr. Robert J. Lefkowitz (Duke) presents the 46th MilliporeSigma Lectureship Series at UC San Diego.

Pictured are (L-R) Drs. J. Zhang, E. Dennis, T. Handel, P. Taylor, P. Insel, A. Newton, J. Trejo, S. Taylor, L. Brunton, J.H. Brown, R. Lefkowitz, J-P. Changeux and R. Sunahara.