This program of Medications Development for Drugs of Abuse will seek to train future scientists in the field of drug discovery at both the predoctoral and post-doctoral levels with a particular emphasis on therapies related to Drugs of Abuse. It will utilize a multidisciplinary approach including the discovery, design, synthesis and testing of novel therapeutic drugs. The program will encompass modern approaches currently utilized in drug discovery including rational drug design and high throughput screening (HTS). These will be combined with modern synthetic methods used in the preparation of novel drug candidates and combinatorial approaches for the development of suitable compound libraries. In addition, the trainees will be educated in a wide spectrum of drug abuse research a process which will familiarize them with the chemical, biochemical, physiological, pharmacological, and clinical aspects associated with this field of research. The post-doctoral research training component will seek to develop scientists with a strong background in the discovery and synthesis of novel medications for drug abuse treatment. Rational drug design will be combined with high throughput and combinatorial approaches currently utilized in the pharmaceutical industry. Through this program the post-doctoral trainees who may have obtained their earlier education in any of the chemical, pharmaceutical, or biomedical sciences will have an excellent opportunity to develop careers in the medicinal chemistry or molecular pharmacology of drugs of abuse. Predoctoral students will have a choice of three different Ph.D. programs pharmaceutical sciences (medicinal chemistry/drug design); biomedical sciences (molecular pharmacology/drug discovery); chemistry (organic chemistry/drug synthesis). As a result of this program, all of the predoctoral students will receive extensive education in the chemistry and biology of drugs of abuse and will be encouraged to pursue research careers or further training in this field of science. This program which will function within the Center for Drug Discovery is, to our knowledge, a unique approach to develop promising new scientists who will engage in the development of medications to combat drug abuse.
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