(Taken from the Application) This is an application for renewal of a longstanding program for predoctoral training in Pharmacological Sciences. Twelve training slots are requested to support students in their first two-years. The program seeks to meet the need for well-trained scientists who can maintain rapid progress in applying advances in biology to medicine. With the revolution in pharmacology over the last twenty years, rigorous training in molecular biology, genetics, biochemistry, structural biology, and cell biology as well as pharmacology forms the foundation of the program. These many disciplines are reflected in the research activities and classes offered to the students. The training program is conducted under the aegis of the Biological and Biomedical Sciences (BBS) graduate program at Harvard Medical School, which is comprised of four departments and affiliated faculty. The central department for this program is Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology with additional faculty from other Harvard departments. The various departments and the training grant faculty members are highly interactive. The research activities of the training grant faculty spans a broad spectrum of molecular pharmacology research with particular strengths in receptors, signal transduction, protein biochemistry and structure, molecular biology, and drug mechanisms and design. Students in the program take core courses covering basic sciences including pharmacology, and an advanced pharmacology course. Other courses offered stress reading papers and critical thinking and human biology. Full time thesis research follows course work, laboratory rotations, and qualifying examinations. Students have access to multiple other training activities including journal clubs, seminars, and data presentation. This training plan should ensure the strengthening or a program that has graduated many outstanding students who today play leadership roles in pharmacological sciences.
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