Program of study

The PhD Program in Molecular Pharmacology and Oncology derives from the union of the PhD programs in Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology and Molecular Oncology.

The internal organization is articulated in three Curricula:

1. Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology;
   
2. Molecular Oncology;
   
3. Pharmacology of Peptidergic Systems.

• In the Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology program, several methodological and cultural approaches are involved: physico-chemical techniques (receptor binding and receptor binding thermodynamics), electrophysiology (patch clamp), biochemical techniques (enzymatic activities, secretory processes, ionic movements), molecular biology (in situ hybridization, gene cloning, viral vectors), immunologic techniques (vaccines, synthetic delivery systems, immunohistochemistry) by using cell cultures, synaptosomes, purified membranes and several animal models. This curriculum gives solid technical-scientific basis for several research areas in pharmacology, biochemistry, physiology, pathology and immunology.

• The Molecular Oncology program is devoted to the development of basic and applied researchers in different aspects of oncology, from the set up of diagnostic systems to the proposal of advanced therapies, to the molecular analysis of solid and ematologic tumors.
  

• The curriculum in Pharmacology of peptidergic systems is particularly devoted to the pharmacologic, physiopathologic, biochemical and molecular study of central and peripheral receptors for bioactive peptides. This is an international curriculum under activation with University of Leicester (Prof. D. Lambert). The aim of the PhD program in Molecular Pharmacology and Oncology is the scientific, theoretical and practical formation of young researchers who wish to learn methodologic, theoretical and experimental themes in the fields of molecular pharmacology and oncology. These new cultural and practical skills can allow the young PhD student to be introduced in a competitive way, at national and international level, in public and private research.
  

A researcher with experience in molecular pharmacology and oncology can be of great usefulness to University institutions and in laboratories of pharmaceutical industry, in diagnostic laboratories, in research centres of clinical pharmacology and experimental and diagnostic oncology.