It is with a deep sense of responsibility that I serve as the Head of the Department of Pharmacology. Pharmacology is a unique biomedical discipline studying the origins, uses, and mechanisms of action of drugs. The subject is essential to the teaching of Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing, and Pharmacy, and industry-ready Life Science students. Pharmacology is exceptionally positioned to address fundamental questions about drugs, such as how they produce their actions, and how they may be used more effectively. The discipline covers a broad range of teaching and research areas from pharmacokinetics, drug-receptor theory, identification and validation of drug targets, agonist and antagonist drug discovery, molecular and cellular mechanisms of drug actions, disease-specific system pharmacology, drug modality development, pharmacogenetics and personalised medicine, drug development and clinical drug trials, to adverse drug reactions and toxicology.

Established in 1959, the Department has for over sixty years laid down strong foundations in pharmacology teaching and research. Today, we have a formidable team of academic and research staff committed to excel in pharmacology education and research. Several of our team have medical training or pharmacy training to support clinically relevant education on our professional programs, including Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy and Nursing. Besides, the Department is also well-positioned to train students from the Life Science program in basic and molecular pharmacology and toxicology and equip them to become industry-ready pharmaceutical and clinical trial professionals. Increasingly, our Department is also reaching out to offer continuing education and training for working professionals and learners in the wider community. Several of our staff have training and qualifications in medical and health professions education. We are continually innovating in teaching methodologies and digitalisation of education. In addition, we are building up scholarly research in education by teaching staff who also work closely with the Centre for Medical Education.