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Courses
Courses
Choosing a course is one of the most important decisions you'll ever make! View our courses and see what our students and lecturers have to say about the courses you are interested in at the links below.
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University Life
University Life
Each year more than 4,000 choose University of Galway as their University of choice. Find out what life at University of Galway is all about here.
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About University of Galway
About University of Galway
Since 1845, University of Galway has been sharing the highest quality teaching and research with Ireland and the world. Find out what makes our University so special – from our distinguished history to the latest news and campus developments.
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Colleges & Schools
Colleges & Schools
University of Galway has earned international recognition as a research-led university with a commitment to top quality teaching across a range of key areas of expertise.
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Research & Innovation
Research & Innovation
University of Galway’s vibrant research community take on some of the most pressing challenges of our times.
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Business & Industry
Guiding Breakthrough Research at University of Galway
We explore and facilitate commercial opportunities for the research community at University of Galway, as well as facilitating industry partnership.
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Alumni & Friends
Alumni & Friends
There are 128,000 University of Galway alumni worldwide. Stay connected to your alumni community! Join our social networks and update your details online.
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Community Engagement
Community Engagement
At University of Galway, we believe that the best learning takes place when you apply what you learn in a real world context. That's why many of our courses include work placements or community projects.
Careers
CAREERS IN PHARMACOLOGY
Pharmacologists are at the centre of efforts to develop new drugs, and thus are essential to the advancement of health in the world. Within pharmacology there are a number of recognised sub-disciplines. Important among these are the following:
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Target discovery and validation (studies that try to discover new molecules that could be drug targets).
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Toxicology (the study of the harmful effects of drugs, the mechanism of toxic action, and approaches at reducing such effects).
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Pharmacodynamics (the study of how drugs interact with their targets to produce beneficial effects).
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Preclinical Drug Development (evaluating drug effects in the test tube and in laboratory animals).
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Pharmacokinetics (the study of how the human body handles and eliminates drugs).
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Clinical Drug Development (a discipline that tests how well new drugs work in human beings with disease).
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Pharmacogenomics (the study of how an individuals genetic makeup affects their responses to drugs).
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Pharmacoepidemiology (the study of how drugs are used within populations of patients).
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Pharmacoecomics (the study of how the cost of drugs influence their use with populations).
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Thus, it is clear that pharmacology offers a wide variety of potential careers!
Pharmacology is not the same as pharmacy - a pharmacist is someone qualified to prepare and dispense drugs. Drug hunting in the pharmaceutical industry involves research at the cutting edge of many aspects of biology using the most modern techniques and facilities. In the research setting, pharmacologists work as part of an inter-disciplinary team engaged in discovering and developing new drugs in the following areas.
- Basic or applied biology research in Universities and the pharmaceutical industry covering areas as diverse as AIDS, cancer and Alzheimer's dementia.
- Clinical research takes drugs from the laboratory into the clinic and establishes the effectiveness of medicines in patients.
Product registration, pharmaceutical sales and information science also provide fascinating career options for pharmacologists. Pharmacology provides a broad training and pharmacologists also work in a legal environment, the financial sector, general management and general science as well as taking further qualifications in the fields of Science, Pharmacy, Medicine or Teaching. Thus, a background in Pharmacology provides an excellent launching pad for future career development in any of a number of different fields.