Pharmacology and Toxicology About Us

Message from the Chair

Welcome to the website for the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Utah, which is located in Salt Lake City at the foot of the beautiful Wasatch Range of the Rocky Mountains. Pharmacology and Toxicology are integrative and interdisciplinary sciences that investigate the actions of chemical agents on living systems. These chemical agents can include endogenous molecules, such as hormones and neurotransmitters, materials in the environment that can produce adverse effects, as well as synthetic and naturally derived drugs that can treat human disease. Pharmacologists and Toxicologists have an exceptionally broad perspective and investigate virtually every organ system from the molecular to whole organism level. The mission of our Department is three-fold, and focuses on research, graduate and professional training, and service. The faculty of this department place a high priority on the teaching and research training of graduate students for the PhD and MS degree. Our programs feature close working relationships between individual students and their faculty mentor, rich and diverse research opportunities, and individualized programs of study based on the needs of the students. Doctoral graduates of our program gain employment in research and teaching positions at colleges and universities, engage in research and development in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, and have additional opportunities in research institutes, government agencies, environmental protection organizations, and many other arenas. Our Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Program provides enriching research experiences for undergraduate students anticipating research careers in the biological sciences.

We invite you to examine our research and graduate training programs and we hope you obtain a sense of the exciting work taking place. Students with backgrounds in the biological or chemical sciences are strongly encouraged to apply for graduate study toward the PhD and MS degrees.

Karen Wilcox, Ph.D.

Professor and Chair

About our Graduate Programs

PhD Program in Pharmacology and Toxicology

Our department does not directly admit PhD students. Students generally enter the PhD Program in Pharmacology and Toxicology through the Bioscience PhD Programs of Biological Chemistry or Molecular Biology www.bioscience.utah.edu or via the Interdepartmental Program in Neuroscience www.neuroscience.med.utah.edu. Students complete their first year in Bioscience or Neuroscience, and typically rotate in Pharmacology and Toxicology labs during their first year. At the end of the first year, they are able to join a PharmTox lab.

Master's Program in Pharmacology and Toxicology

Our 1 year Master's Program in Pharmacology and Toxicology began Fall 2025. This full-time, 1 year, 3 semester program includes two tracks: a Laboratory Research Track and a Capstone Track. The Master's students take courses, work in laboratories, and participate in professional development activities alongside current PhD students. You can learn more here.

IDEAS in Neuroscience Post-Baccalaureate Program

Intermountain Doctoral Education to Advance Students (IDEAS) in Neuroscience is a 1 year, NIH funded post baccalaureate program at the University of Utah. This is a paid training program ($35,000 a year stipend + health insurance + tuition) for recent college graduates from underrepresented backgrounds who are interested in applying to PhD programs in the neurosciences. We are no longer accepting applications for new cohorts. This is information is here for informational purposes.

History of the Department

In 1944, Dr. Louis S. Goodman became the first chair of the Pharmacology Department, then housed in the School of Medicine. Dr. Goodman was already a major figure in the field of pharmacology, as co-author of the classic Goodman & Gilman's The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, first published in 1941. He was then followed as chair by Dr. Dixon Woodbury and Dr. Donal Reed.

Dean Ewart S. Swinyard created a brand new department in the College of Pharmacy, Biopharmaceutical Sciences, with Dr. James Gibb as its inaugural chair. This department also included Medicinal Chemistry. Eventually, Biochemical Pharmacology and Medicinal Chemistry split into two departments, distinct from the Pharmacology Department in the School of Medicine. During this period, several faculty members, including Dr. James Gibb, Dr. William Nichols, and Dr. Michael Franklin, held joint appointments across both pharmacology-related departments.

In the 1970s, Dean Swinyard created the Center for Human Toxicology, directed by Dr. David George. Around the same time, the College of Pharmacy received an NIH training grant focused on toxicology, with Dr. Michael Franklin serving as Program Director (1976). The Department of Biochemical Pharmacology and Toxicology was established in 1978, with the name latter changed to Pharmacology and Toxicology.

Later, University leadership concluded that maintaining two separate pharmacology efforts was not sustainable. As a result, the Pharmacology and Toxicology Department became the central home for pharmacology and toxicology research and education across the institution.

Special thanks to Emeritus Professor Dr. Michael Franklin for contributing to this history. Learn more via Archives West.