Neuropharmacology employs knowledge derived from neuroscience research to determine how psychotherapeutic and psychotomimetic drugs and neurotoxins act in the CNS and the neurochemical substrates that mediate their activity. The proposed training program combines the talents of neuroscientists and trainee recruiting resources from three ongoing programs [The Department of Pharmacology The College of Medicine, The Division of Pharmacology, The College of Pharmacy and The Neuroscience Program an intercollegiate program]. The training program will provide the next generation of scientists with the intellectual and technical skills needed to continue with the important task of unmasking the mechanism of action of psychotherapeutic drugs, developing new therapeutic agents and understanding the cause of mental illness. Two predoctoral trainees are requested for the first year and four each year thereafter for a total of five years of funding. One postdoctoral trainee is requested for the first year and two for the following years. The predoctoral trainees will be eligible for the program after becoming a candidate for a Ph.D. i.e., after completing the General Examination. It is anticipated that trainees will complete their thesis requirement in two years. Postdoctoral trainees are anticipated to complete training in two years. The faculty are a cohesive group of funded neuroscientists with contemporary and traditional neuropharmacological research experiences including molecular biotechnology, neurochemistry, cell culture, patch-clamp recording and image analysis capabilities. The training program takes advantage of all of the research, teaching and recruiting resources of three major programs at The Ohio State University.
