Pharmaceutics

a hand holding a red pill

The Department of Pharmaceutics has a rich tradition of innovation and a commitment to advancing health through new knowledge. Faculty members make significant contributions to enhancing understanding of drug action and delivery. 

Pharmaceutics is the study of the quantitative aspects of drug delivery. It involves the design, development, and evaluation of drugs in combination with an appropriate dosage form.  A pharmaceutical scientist:

  • characterizes physical properties of drugs
  • develops innovative delivery systems for drugs
  • quantitatively evaluates drug absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and pharmacological activity in the living organism

PhD and MS Programs

The Graduate Program in Pharmaceutics prepares students for research in the development and testing of drug products, including investigating interactions of drugs with complex biological systems and the physical and chemical formulation of drugs for delivery. Specializations include: 

Pharmacokinetics

Pharmacodynamics

Drug Metabolism

Pharmaceutical Materials Science and Engineering

Polymer-Based Drug Delivery

Biophysical Chemistry

Molecular Biopharmaceutics 

Learn more about the Graduate Program

Research Areas

Drug delivery to the central nervous system to treat Alzheimer’s, brain cancer, pain, and addiction

Targeted drug delivery to treat cancers

Engineered nanoparticles to target drugs to the desired sites

Behavior and movement of a drug to its intended destination in the body

Materials science and engineering of drug substance and drug products

Strategies to enhance drug availability to the body

Read more about our Research

bg-gray-lighter

Departmental Publications

Read our 2022 Annual Newsletter (PDF)