History:
The Department of Pharmacology at the University of Toronto is among the oldest and largest in North America, with its official foundations established with the appointment of James Thorburne as Professor of Pharmacology and Therapeutics in 1887, at the same time that the Faculty of Medicine was re-established in the University of Toronto. In 1903 a new building for the teaching of medical undergraduates was opened, and the search began for individuals to lead the preclinical departments of physiology, biochemistry and pharmacology. By 1907, the role of Professor of Pharmacy and Pharmacology had been assumed by Velyien Henderson, one of the fathers of experimental pharmacology in North America, who continued in this capacity until 1945.
In November, 2007, the Department's name was changed to the "Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology" to better reflect the scope of our activities and undergraduate and graduate programs.
Undergraduate Programs:
Until the 1970s, undergraduate teaching in pharmacology was directed solely to professional medical students, pharmacy students, dentists and nurses. The Pharmacology Specialist Program first appeared as a collaborative program of the Faculties of Arts & Science and Medicine in 1974-75, followed by the Toxicology Specialist Program in 1981 and the Pharmacology and Toxicology Double Specialist Program in 1991. In 2005 the Department initiated new Majors programs both in Pharmacology and in Toxicology, to meet increasing student demand for these very popular undergraduate disciplines, and to provide enhanced flexibility in student choices for double Majors. There are currently over 300 undergraduate Arts & Science students enrolled in Specialist or Major programs of study in the Department.
Graduate Programs:
The Department presently has over 70 core, emeritus, status-only and cross-appointed faculty members, and is currently also undergoing considerable core faculty expansion and renewal. There are about 80 graduate students enrolled in research-intensive programs of advanced scientific investigation at both the M.Sc. and PhD. levels. Research laboratories of faculty members are located not only in the core Department situated in the Medical Sciences Building on the downtown St. George campus, but also within a number of nearby university Departments, Faculties, university-affiliated research institutes and teaching hospitals, including the Banting & Best Department of Medical Research, the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, the Faculty of Dentistry, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), the Research Institute of the Hospital for Sick Children, St. Michael’s Hospital, the University Health Network, the Princess Margaret Hospital and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. This strategic positioning also enables a wealth of potential opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration with internationally recognized investigators within one of the largest and densest existing concentrations of biomedical research expertise in North America. There are currently over 65 graduate students enrolled in the MSc and PhD programs of study in the Department.
The Department is also a member of a number of interdepartmental graduate Collaborative Programs, including
Biomedical Toxicology,
Addiction Studies,
Cardiovascular Sciences,
Neuroscience and
Women's Health.
Research:
Current areas of research investigation in the Department include receptor pharmacology, signal transduction pathways, neuropharmacology, drug addiction studies, drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics, pharmacogenetics, cardiovascular pharmacology, clinical pharmacology, immunopharmacology, endocrine pharmacology, biochemical and molecular pharmacology, and toxicology.
Textbook:
The Pharmacology textbook, Principles of Medical Pharmacology (Kalant, H., Grant, D.M. and Mitchell, J., eds.), is now in its 7th Edition (2006) and is published by Elsevier Canada. All proceeds from the sale of the textbook are donated towards the support of graduate student program activities, including conference travel and invited seminar speakers.