Neuropharmacology
Neuropharmacology is the study of the effects of drugs on the nervous system, aiming to develop compounds to benefit humans with psychiatric and neurological disease
Read moreWelcome to Pharmacology
The Department of Pharmacology is one of the pre-clinical science departments that form part of the University’s Medical Sciences Division and is focused on basic life sciences research, undergraduate teaching for medicine and biomedical sciences students and the training and development of graduate students.
Latest News
New study reveals specialised subpopulations of head direction cells in the mouse thalamus
10 June 2026
Researchers from the Viney Group in the Department of Pharmacology, along with collaborators from The Center for Systems Neuroscience, Boston University, US, have identified distinct subpopulations of head direction (HD) cells in the mouse thalamus, revealing that the brain's internal compass is composed of specialised neurons that differ in their sensorimotor responses, molecular identity, and connectivity.
Top of the QS World University Rankings for Pharmacy and Pharmacology 2019-2021
Founded in 1898
20 research groups
50+ graduate students
Research
The Department of Pharmacology is at the forefront of research into the effects of drugs and other molecules on biological systems with a view to understanding the mechanisms of the human body. Pre-clinical research in the Department aims to examine cellular and molecular pathways in living systems as the first step towards a greater understanding of disease and effective treatment.
Teaching
Academic staff in the Department lead lectures, seminars and tutorials for undergraduate students on the Medicine and Biomedical Sciences courses. The Department also hosts an internationally-renowned one-year MSc taught course in Pharmacology and has a community of around 40 DPhil students.
Forthcoming events
20TH DAVID SMITH LECTURE: Bridge-like intracellular lipid transfer proteins: roles in physiology and neurodegenerative disease
Thursday, 11 June 2026, 12pm to 1pm
Speaker(s): Professor Pietro De Camilli (Professor of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Yale University)
Host: Professor Antony Galione
OxON-13: Compartmentalised GLP-1R signalling at ER membrane contact sites
Friday, 12 June 2026, 12pm to 1pm
Speaker(s): Professor Alejandra Tomas Catala (Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction, Imperial College London)
Host: Prof. Ira Milosevic
Targeting prolylcarboxypeptidase-mediated autophagy for cardiac protection
Tuesday, 16 June 2026, 12pm to 1pm
Speaker(s): Professor Xin Wang (Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester)
Host: Professor Ming Lei
Dominant effects of loss- and gain-of-function variants in neuronal endosomal CLC transporters
Tuesday, 23 June 2026, 12pm to 1pm
Speaker(s): Dr Michael Pusch (Instituto di Biofisica, Genoa)
Host: Professor Paolo Tammaro
OxON-14: Targeting Synapse Loss to Rescue Memory in Alzheimer’s Disease
Friday, 10 July 2026, 12pm to 1pm
Speaker(s): Professor Xuelin Lou (Department of Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Anatomy, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA)
Host: Prof. Ira Milosevic