Careers in Pharmacology What is Pharmacology?

Careers in Pharmacology

What is Pharmacology?

Pharmacology is the study of drugs - what they do, how they do it and how they are cleared from the body.

What is Pharmacology?

• To a Pharmacologist a “drug” is any chemical that has an effect on the body.

• This includes– medicines obtained from the doctor or pharmacist– The body’s own chemicals e.g. hormones and neurotransmitters – environmental substances such as food additives and pollutants.

How do medicines work

• Asthma:


In asthma the inner layer becomes inflamed and swollen, narrowing the airways. More mucus is produced and some airways may become blocked. The inflamed lining is sensitised to 'trigger' factors such as dust and pollen. The outer layer also becomes more sensitive causing narrowing of the airways and coughing.


• Asthma:


• Useful actions of drugs can be achieved, without major unwanted effects, by the way they work and by the way they are given.

• Developing drugs needs a knowledge of the body and of disease.

• As a pharmacologist you could help develop new and improved medicines.

How does the body get rid of medicines?

Blood Plasma Concentration (g/l) after one

tablet of Paracetamol


• Paracetamol is used to relieve minor aches and pains such as a headache.

• The body treats paracetamol as a chemical it needs to get rid of.

• Most medicines are fat-soluble - which favours their absorption from the gastrointestinal tract. The body must make it more water-soluble to promote excretion in urine. This is where metabolism comes in.

• A pharmacologist needs to understand how paracetamol is metabolised to advise on proper prescribing.

Cancer – new treatments?

Cancer is a major killer

There are over 22 million people suffering from the disease worldwide and over 6 million deaths per year.

Male Female


• In a normal cell there is a balance between cell production and cell death.

• This balance is regulated by genes in the cell nucleus which exert their effects via proteins.


Because cancer cells divide more rapidly than normal cells, early approaches to cancer treatment such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy targeted rapidly dividing cells.

Unfortunately, these treatments also result in damage to normal, rapidly dividing cells, such as skin, blood, hair and gut causing serious side effects.


• Step 1Modern medicine can produce significant clinical data about patients suffering from specific cancers.

• Step 2Methods developed in the HGP allow us to map the genetic profile of cancer patients and look for linkages between the clinical data and the abnormal genes - genomics.

• Step 3Research scientists can begin to understand the role of these genes and the different proteins produced by cancer cells - proteomics.

• Step 4Processing of all of these data opens up the possibility of more effective early diagnosis and for pharmacologists the prospect of designing much more selective medicines for treating cancer.


• Cancer is a growing problem world wide because of the increasing ageing population in the western world and the increasing exposure in the developed world to life-style changes e.g. tobacco and diet.

• Advances in genomics and proteomics are helping us to better understand how cancers originate and develop and provide pointers for more effective treatment.

• The combination of clinical, genomic, and proteomic data offers a major opportunity to pharmacologists of the 21st century to develop more effective cancer treatments - the era of pharmacogenomics.

• Cancer is still a major global disease, a major killer and for many cancers there is no effective treatment.

What can I do with a degree in Pharmacology?

Pharmaceutical Industry

- develop new medicines- test new medicines on human volunteers- assess safety of new medicines- market new medicines- patent and regulatory affairs- IT support


• Develop new medicines -

Would you like to develop biological tests in cellular or tissue systems or in whole animals and use them to identify new medicines?

• Pharmacologists have a key role in designing these tests.

• They involve measures of effectiveness and safety as well as for duration of effect.

• The pharmacologist designs tests to study the absorption and removal of the medicine from the body.


• Develop new medicines -

Are you a team player and enjoy experimental work, presenting your results and like the chance to be involved in developing a new medicine?

• Pharmacologists in industry produce papers used to obtain approval of medicines and for scientific publication in journals.

• You will attend scientific meetings round the world to present the results of your work.

• James Black, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his work in discovering medicines for the treatment of heart disease.


• Safety testing -

Do you want to ensure that new medicines are safe?

• Safety pharmacology is required to exclude potential side effects of novel compounds.

• As a safety pharmacologist you would design new tests to determine if a new compound could produce side effects.

• You would be interested in experimental design and the science linking biological changes in animals with a therapeutically useful response compared with the potential to cause side effects.


• Research and Teaching -

Do you want to discover something new about the body or help to discover a new medicine?

• Much of the research to understand how the body works and how medicines act has been conducted in Universities and research institutes.

• Universities and research institutes work in collaboration with pharmaceutical companies. The former do the fundamental research and the latter apply that knowledge to development of new medicines.


• Research and Teaching -

Would you like to educate the next generation of professionals and scientists?

• Have you the skills to communicate your ideas and to motivate students? Pharmacology is an important part of many University courses, including the professional courses of Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Veterinary Science and Nursing, as well as many science courses.

• University teachers are normally researchers in a specific field as well as teachers of students, and will have at least a PhD as well as probably some post-PhD research experience.


• Graduate Entry to Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Medicine -

Do you want to do Medicine at University but perhaps will not achieve the grades required or are you unsure whether you wish to do Medicine or a science subject related to Medicine?

Then why not study BSc Pharmacology and try for Medicine as a graduate.


• Graduate Entry to Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Medicine -

• Graduate entry courses are usually 4 years, one year less than the courses for non-graduates.

• A degree in Pharmacology provides an ideal background as you will have covered many biomedical subjects, as well as having an in-depth knowledge of medicines.

• However, you are likely to have to pay tuition fees and your maintenance costs for the first 2 years of the medical course.


• Medical Writing -

Scientists and doctors need to communicate their work to others. Can you help them?

• Have you a talent for writing and putting over ideas in a simple and exciting way?

• Medical writers work in pharmaceutical companies or contract companies and produce clinical trial reports, study protocols, papers for scientific publication and advertising material.


• Recruitment -

The Pharmaceutical Industry is always looking out for suitable recruits within all areas from medical sales, through basic research to regulatory affairs. Finding the right people is a long and difficult process. This area of business is often passed on to consultants and professional recruiting agencies.

• Do you have the skills to locate the right person for a senior position in the pharmaceutical industry?

• Can you discuss the position from a position of knowledge and understanding?• Do you want to use your scientific knowledge indirectly in this way rather than directly

working in a laboratory?


• Graduate Entry into other careers -

Well you have a scientific degree and some 40% of jobs for graduates do not specify the nature of the degree subject, let alone a scientific subject.

• During your course you will have developed many transferable skills, such as problem solving, analytical skills, communicating, team working, information technology and numeracy.

• You are ideally placed to enter careers such as management, accountancy, the civil service and finance.

Becoming a Pharmacologist

• Normally to become a pharmacologist you need to study BSc Pharmacology at University.

Details of courses can be found on the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) web site.

www.ucas.ac.ukUse Pharmacology as a keyword.

http://www.ucas.ac.uk/


The aims of a typical course:

– develop your understanding of how medicines affect the body, how the body handles medicines and how new medicines are developed

– developing many practical and other key skills.


The course would involve:

– studying how the body works from the molecular level (e.g. how are genes switched on and off) to the whole body (e.g. what regulates blood pressure) and how diseases occur.

– Studying the actions of medicines in computer simulations, in cells and tissues from animals, possibly in whole animals, and in student volunteers.

– understanding how the whole body reacts to medicines from the point of view of effectiveness and safety.

– furthering your understanding of chemistry as you need to know the relationship between the structure of medicines and their actions.


You can also combine a Pharmacology degree with many other subjects, such as:

– Biochemistry– Chemistry– Foreign languages– Immunology– Management– Physiology


Do be aware that a BSc Pharmacology course is very different from a BSc Pharmacy course.

A Pharmacy course aims to train someone so that they can work in a hospital pharmacy, chemist’s shop or manufacture medicines in industry. This type of course would include pharmacology but also the formulation of medicines, chemical synthesis, microbiology and the social aspects of medicines.

Work Placements

• There are opportunities in many BSc Pharmacology courses to do a year’s placement, often called a sandwich placement, in a pharmaceutical company as part of your degree course.

Here you see real science in action, apply the knowledge and skills you learnt at University and develop them further. You earn money and might even work abroad for that year.

• There is also the possibility of finding a work placement during the summer while at University as you have useful skills and knowledge.

Jobs at the end of your degree

A BSc Pharmacology degree will equip you for finding employment in laboratories in pharmaceutical companies, going on do a higher degree or doing many other types of jobs.

Further information• British Pharmacological Society

www.bps.ac.uk• ABPI website

www.abpi.org.uk • General Medical Council

www.gmc-uk.org• European Medical Writers Association

www.emwa.org

http://www.bps.ac.uk/

http://www.abpi.org.uk/

http://www.gmc-uk.org/

http://www.emwa.org/

The British Pharmacological Society

BPS Office,16 Angel Gate,City Road,London EC1V 2SG

Tel: 0207 417 0383Fax: 0207 417 0114Email: [email protected]: www.bps.ac.uk See Careers section

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.bps.ac.uk/

Careers in Pharmacology What is Pharmacology?

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