? Howard University is a private University founded by an act of Congress in 1867 and the only Historically Black University recognized as a Doctoral-Research Extensive Institution by the Camegie-Mellon Foundation. The current Howard University College of Pharmacy, Nursing and Allied Health Sciences was created in August 1997 by merging the then Colleges of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nursing and Allied Health Sciences. ? ? This proposal aims at obtaining funding to renovate the ground floor and part of the first floor of the Pharmacy Building to house the proposed Center for Drug Research and Development (CDRD). Currently several accomplished investigators are involved in Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Research. Consequently, the new facility, with the state-of-the-art research laboratories centered under CDRD, will stimulate collaborative efforts, and also promote sharing of ideas and resources essential for interdisciplinary research. ? ? The CDRD's long-term objectives are to strengthen the capacity of Howard University to conduct drug research and to establish methodologies and programs that will accelerate the discovery and development of drugs. The projected use of the renovated facility will include: drug design and preformulation; excipient, drug and drug product analyses; conventional and novel dosage form design; phase I clinical studies; and education (in addition to workshops and training of students and postdoctoral fellows, the uniqueness of the center is the development of Collaborative Postgraduate Training Programs between (a) Howard University and the Pharmaceutical Industry, and (b) Howard ? University and the FDA/USP, which will improve work performance in the industry without the need for prolonged absence from work). ? ?
