The Molecular Pharmacology Graduate Program offers an outstanding research environment and is currently ranked 9th nationally in NIH funding of pharmacology departments. Biomedical research in the program is focused on molecular and cellular mechanisms of intracellular signaling using a combination of biochemical, molecular biological, biophysical, ultrastructural, and imaging approaches. Basic information on cellular communication in health and disease provides the basis for the development and testing of novel therapeutic agents.

Applications of this common theme are directed toward research in molecular biology of cancer, neuropharmacology, drug discovery, and cell and organ system pharmacology. Formal interactions with the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, the Center for Neuroscience, the Drug Discovery Institute, the Structural Biology Imaging Center, the Vascular Medicine Institute, and the Division of Clinical Pharmacology provide a broad multidisciplinary training in basic and translational molecular pharmacology.