Research in the College of Pharmacy

The major research thrusts of the College in pharmaceutical sciences center on an interdisciplinary approach in five basic areas. The first is research at the interface between chemistry and biology that can be addressed using chemical and biological tools to investigate phenomena at the cellular and molecular levels, including research that is mechanism-based. The emphasis is on chemical biology of mammalian systems, particularly as it applies to human disease states. This research will increasingly take advantage of the new information available from elucidation of the human genome. The second area emphasizes drug delivery, product development, materials science (especially studies of the solid state), processing, and manufacturing of pharmaceuticals. The third area is translational research and pharmacogenomics research, including pharmacoepidemiology, in collaboration with the Indiana University School of Medicine.

The College also has two research thrusts in the social and administrative sciences: pharmacy economics and pharmacy outcomes research. Pharmacy economics studies questions related to the economic relationship within pharmacy and the health-care system, and outcomes research considers questions such as the effect of pharmaceutical care on patients' quality of life and the application of new educational methodology to both patient education programs and the pharmacy curriculum.

Research is the process of formulating questions that lead to hypotheses, and then carrying out investigations that verify or nullify those hypotheses. In addition to the practical benefits that research makes possible, a highly active research environment provides a unique kind of excitement that is both indispensable for attracting and retaining the best and brightest faculty and essential for providing students with the most up-to-date education. Most research is funded by grants from industry, governmental agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, and non-profit organizations such as the American Cancer Society. Through its investments in research infrastructure, the University provides significant internal support for its research mission.

The Indiana Database for University Research Expertise (INDURE) is now online! With this tool, you can search for Purdue faculty members and their research activities by entering relevant keywords, or alternatively you can use a simple navigation mechanism to find them by specifying fields of study. Visit the database to identify Purdue researchers by keywords or fields of interest.