Ph.D. in Pharmaceutics and Pharmacology

General Requirements:

The degree tracks in Pharmaceutics and Pharmacology consist of courses common to both tracks and specialty course tracks in Pharmaceutics or Pharmacology. These specialty tracks provide essential training in the elected major discipline. The course of study to complete the degree is anticipated to take approximately five years after obtaining the Bachelors degree.

The student must complete a minimum of 80 hours for the Ph.D. degree, including 40 hours of research . In accordance with the University of Houston guidelines, the department may approve a maximum of 9 hours of transfer credits from another institution.

A cumulative grade point average of at least 3.00 (A=4.00) must be maintained in all graduate-level courses required for the Ph.D. degree in order to obtain an advanced degree from the College of Pharmacy. Graduate-level courses are defined as all courses required for the Ph.D. degree as defined either by the department and/or dissertation committee.

Ph.D. in Pharmaceutics

Pharmaceutics is a multidisciplinary science which focuses on the study of the physical, chemical and biological properties of drugs and dosage forms. Cutting across the traditional disciplinary boundaries, pharmaceutics examines the relationship of drug properties to dosage form design, fabrication, evaluation and therapeutic efficacy. Students in the pharmaceutics program may develop research programs in the areas of drug delivery systems, drug stability, dosage forms, drug absorption and disposition, and pharmacokinetics.

Pharmaceutics faculty, located in the facility in the Texas Medical Center, engage in collaborative research projects with other Texas Medical Center institutions. This environment provides students with a wide range of basic and clinical research experience and opportunities to conduct animal and human research. Course work available from other University of Houston departments and Texas Medical Center institutions provides didactic backgrounds which meet the needs of individual students.

Before formal admittance to doctoral candidacy students must pass a qualifying examination prepared and administered by the student's dissertation committee as well as present and defend a research proposal to this committee. If the student cannot meet the requirements for doctoral candidacy, the student may be permitted to complete the requirements for the M.S. degree in Pharmaceutics as an alternative.

Required Didactic Courses

PCEU 6341 Advanced Pharmacokinetics
PCEU 6342 Advanced Pharmaceutics I
PCEU 6345 Advanced Pharmaceutics II
PCOL 7370 Scientific Writing
PCEU 7340 Advanced Drug Delivery
PCEU 7350 Fundamental Laboratory Methods
PCEU 6180, PCEU 7180, PCEU 6181, PCEU 7181 Pharmaceutics Seminar
PCEU 6142, PCEU 6143, PCEU 7142, PCEU 7143 Pharmaceutics Literature Review
PCEU 6397 Regulatory Affairs
PHCA 6308 Biostatistics and Experimental Design
Three Credit Hour (3 SCH) Elective Course
BIOL 6197 Responsible Conduct of Research

Research Requirements

In addition to course work, the students must complete an original research project, write a doctoral dissertation and successfully defend the dissertation before their doctoral dissertation committee to meet the requirements of the doctoral degree. A minimum of 30 credit hours of Doctoral Research (PCEU 8X98)/ Doctoral Dissertation (PCEU 8X99) is required as part of this requirement.

Ph.D. In Pharmacology

Pharmacology is the study of the mechanisms of action of drugs and drug effects on normal and disease states. It is a science based upon the integration of chemistry, biochemistry, cell and molecular biology, and physiology. Students in the Pharmacology program may develop research programs in the areas of renal, autonomic, central nervous system, cardiovascular pharmacology, natural products, structural biology, signal transduction, or protein biochemistry.

Before formal admittance to doctoral candidacy students must pass a qualifying examination prepared and administered by the student's dissertation committee as well as present and defend a research proposal to this committee. If the student cannot meet the requirements for doctoral candidacy, the student may be permitted to complete the requirements for a contingent M.S. degree in Pharmacology.

Required Didactic Courses PCOL

6370 Advanced Pharmacology I
PCOL 6371 Advanced Pharmacology II
PCOL 7370 Scientific Writing
PCOL 6462 Cardiovascular and Renal Pharmacology
PCOL 7362 Neuropharmacology
PCOL 7350 Cellular Pharmacology
PCOL 6180, PCOL 7180, PCOL 6181, PCOL 7181 Pharmacology Seminar
PCOL 6141, PCOL 6142, PCOL 7141, PCOL 7142 Pharmacological Literature Review
PCOL 7333 Principles of Molecular Pharmacology
PHCA 6308 Biostatistics and Experimental Design
Three Credit Hour (3 SCH) Elective Course
BIOL 6197 Responsible Conduct of Research

Research Requirements

In addition to coursework, the students must complete an original research project, write a doctoral dissertation and successfully defend the dissertation before their doctoral dissertation committee to meet the requirements of the doctoral degree. A minimum of 18 credit hours of Doctoral Research (PCOL 8X98)/Doctoral Dissertation (PCOL 8X99) is required as part of this requirement.

Elective Courses in Pharmaceutics or Pharmacology

PCOL 6462 Cardiovascular and Renal Pharmacology
PCOL 7362 Neuropharmacology
PCOL 7297 Selected Topics in Pharmacology
PCOL 7350 Cellular Pharmacology
PCEU 7397 Selected Topics in Pharmaceutics
PCEU 7350 Fundamental Laboratory Methods
PCEU 6397 Regulatory Affairs
PCEU 7340 Advanced Drug Delivery Systems
PCOL 7333 Principles of Molecular Pharmacology
PCOL 7330 Biochemical Pharmacology

With the agreement of their advisors, students may choose to enroll in courses given by other colleges on the University of Houston campus or at the Texas Medical Center as part of the Elective Course pool. 

Information about the Pharmacology and Pharmaceutics degree programs also is available from the UH Graduate Catalog.