Future Plans for the Department of Pharmacology

The department of Pharmacology is all well set with the future approach to contribute substantially in the field of research alongside with the ongoing academic activities.

The large part of the department is been devoted to the development of the following research areas:

1.    Bioavailability (BA) and Bioequivalence (BE) studies Center (BA/BE) – the plan for the development of a well equipped BA/BE center in the department is on the verge of implementation. This is expected to give a great boost for the PG students in terms of the understanding of the process and procedure in such kind of clinical studies and should open avenues for their future development.

2.    Pharmacogenetic lab – This can be considered a major support for the treatment based on the genetic makeup of patients considered under the heading of Pharmacogenetics.   The technique is also used for the for the rapid genetic testing, as a sensitive test of drugs, prediction of safety and efficacy of drugs, vital for organ transplantation and for the accurate diagnosis of severe infections like malaria, tuberculosis, HIV, etc. and for other research activities. This is expected to increase the knowledge of both the UG and specially the PG students.

3.    Tissue / cell culture lab –Cell culture is the process by which cells are grown under controlled conditions, generally outside of their natural environment. It is an excellent tool for studying the normal physiology, biochemistry and pathology of cells (e.g., metabolic studies). It is also used for the detection of drugs and toxic compounds on the cells and carcinogenic effects. It is a basic step for the screening of new drugs.

4.    Therapeutic drug Monitoring (TDM): Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) is a branch of clinical chemistry and clinical pharmacology that specializes in the measurement of medication concentrations in blood. Its main focus is on drugs with a narrow therapeutic range, i.e. drugs that can easily be under- or overdosed. This is branch TDM data provides the clinician with greater insight into the factors determining the patients response to drug therapy. Hence the patient treatment like anti-epileptic agents, anti mania drugs, immunosuppressant therapy etc., where the response is based on the drugs levels in the blood, will be more accurate.