N D S U Home Page

 HOME  BULLETIN  RESEARCH  GENERAL INFORMATION  PUBLICATIONS   OUR STAFF  ANNOUNCEMENTS                                                    APPLY ONLINE

Graduate Faculty

701-231-7661

Stefan Balaz, Ph.D. , D.Sc.
Slovak Technical University, Bratislava, Slovakia, 1986
Postdoctorals:
Institute for Experimental Biology and Medicine, Borstel, Germany, 1988-89; University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, 1996
Research Interests:
Subcellular, Pharmacokinetics and Quantitative Structure-Time-Activity Relationships

Satadal ChatterjeePh.D. (Physics)
Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, University of Calcutta 1986
Post-Doctorals:
Department of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 1985-1989
Research Interests:
Developmental therapeutics pertaining to cancer and cancer chemoprevention

Bin Guo, Ph.D.
State University of New York at Buffalo, 1999.
Postdoctoral:
Burnham Institute, La Jolla, CA. 1999 - 2003
Research interests:
Molecular and cell biology of apoptosis; cancer
pharmacology.

Sanku Mallik, Ph.D.
Case Western Reserve University, 1992
Postdoctoral:
California Institute of Technology, 1993-95
Research Interests:
Synthetic medicinal chemistry

Stephen T. O'Rourke, Ph.D.
University of Wisconsin, 1985
Postdoctoral:
Mayo Clinic and Foundation, 1985-87
Research Interests:
Vascular Pharmacology

Steven Qian, Ph.D.
The University of Iowa, 1999
Postdoctoral:
National Institute of Environmental Health Science (NIEHS, NIH) 2000-2004
Research Interests:
Roles of lipid-derived and protein-derived free radical metabolites in all kinds of health related problems

R. Craig Schnell, Ph.D.
Purdue University, 1969
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

Jonathan Sheng, Ph.D.
State University of New York at Albany, 1998
Postdoctoral:
University of Iowa 1998-2003
Research Interests:
Molecular pharmacology/toxicology; drug and xenobiotic metabolism

Jagdish Singh, Ph.D.
Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India, 1982
Postdoctoral:
University of Otago, New Zealand, 1985-88; University of California--San Francisco, 1992-94
Research Interests:
Novel Dosage and Drug Delivery Systems, Biopharmaceutics

Benedict Law, Ph.D.
School of Pharmacy, University of Manchester, UK , 2002
Postdoctoral :
Massachusetts General
Hospital/Harvard Medical School, 2002-2007. Research Interests:
Drug delivery, imaging, and nanotechnology

Chengwen Sun,M.D., Ph.D.
Norman Bethune University of Medical Sciences, China, 1983-1988
Immunology, Norman Bethune University of Medical Sciences, China, 1990-1996
Postdoctoral:
Department of Physiology,
Medical College of Wisconsin, 1996-2000
Research Interests:
Central blood pressure control and hypertension gene therapy

Program Description

The Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences offers graduate study leading to the Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees. Advanced work may be selected from pharmaceutics, pharmacokinetics, pharmacology, and medicinal chemistry.

The pharmaceutical sciences curriculum consists of a core of courses involving both basic and pharmaceutical sciences. In addition, students will select courses that will prepare them to be competent scientists in their fields.

Admissions Requirements

The Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences graduate program is open to all qualified graduates of recognized universities and colleges. To be admitted to the program with full status, the applicant must

  1. Hold a baccalaureate degree from an educational institution of recognized standing.

  2. Have adequate preparation in pharmacy or a biological or physical science related to pharmaceutical sciences.

  3. At the baccalaureate level, have earned a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.0 or equivalent.

  4. Have three letters of recommendation sent to The Graduate School. Personal reference report forms are available from The Graduate School. Action is taken only on complete applications.

  5. GRE (Graduate Record Exam) test required.

International students are required to provide a financial report and provide official TOEFL and Graduate Record Examination general tests scores. Action is taken only on complete applications.

Applications should be submitted directly to The Graduate School before April 1 of the upcoming academic year. However, applications will be considered when they are received. Additional information concerning the program is available from the department chair and at our Web site: www.ndsu.edu/pharmsci.

Students who do not meet all admissions requirements, but show potential for successful graduate study, may be considered for admittance in a conditional status. Evidence must be provided showing that the applicant's potential is not adequately reflected by his/her record. After demonstrating adequate performance at North Dakota State University, the student, in consultation with the major adviser, may request a change to full graduate standing. The student may not earn more than 12 semester credits of graduate course work while in conditional status.

Official transcripts (transcripts having an appropriate seal or stamp) of all previous undergraduate and graduate records must be received by The Graduate School before the application is complete. When a transcript is submitted in advance of completion of either undergraduate or graduate studies, an updated transcript showing all course credits and grades must be provided prior to initial registration at NDSU.

Financial Assistance

A limited number of assistantships is available. To be considered for an assistantship, the student must have completed a Graduate School application, be accepted by the department, and submit a formal letter to the department chair requesting an assistantship.

Degree Requirements

The Master of Science program requires the completion of 17 semester credits of letter-graded course work with a GPA of 3.0 or better.

The department requires the following core courses:

PSci 611 Pharmacodynamics and Applied Therapeutics I

PSci 670 Pharmacokinetics

PSci 790 Graduate Seminar

Bioc 701 Comprehensive Biochemistry I

Bioc 702 Comprehensive Biochemistry II

Stat 725 Applied Statistics

For M.S. candidates, an oral defense of a research-based thesis and academic subject matter is required. Candidates for the Ph.D. will be required to take an examination directed at determining competency in the pharmaceutical sciences.

The Doctor of Philosophy program requires the completion of 30 semester credits of letter-graded course work with a GPA of 3.0 or better. Candidates defend their dissertations.


Courses Offered

411/611 Pharmacodynamics and Applied Therapeutics I 3
An introduction to basic physical, chemical, and pharmacological principles that are important in the study of various properties of drugs and drug-receptor interactions. Prereq: PSci 341 and Bioc 461/department approval.

412/612 Pharmacodynamics and Applied Therapeutics II 3
The pharmacological properties of therapeutic agents used in the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases. Aspects of the physiology, chemistry, pharmacology, and the toxicology related to understanding the therapeutic use of these agents. Prereq: PSci 341 and Bioc 461/departmental approval.

413/613 Pharmacodynanics and Applied Therapeutics III 3
The pharmacological properties of therapeutic agents used in the treatment of disorders of the autonomic nervous system and endocrine system diseases. Aspects of the physiology, chemistry, pharmacology, and the toxicology related to understanding the therapeutic use of these agents. Prereq: PSci 411 or 611.

414/614 Pharmacodynamics and Applied Therapeutics IV 3
The pharmacological properties of therapeutic agents used in the treatment of disorders of physiology, chemistry, pharmacology, and the toxicology related to understanding the therapeutic use of these agents. Prereq: PSci 411/611.

415/615 Pharmacodynamics and Applied Therapeutics V 3
The pharmacological properties of therapeutic agents used in the treatment of disorders of the pulmonary and GI systems, and other miscellaneous agents. Aspects of the physiology, chemistry, pharmacology, and the toxicology related to understanding the therapeutic use of these agents. Prereq: PSci 411/611.

416/616 Pharmacodynamics and Applied Therapeutics VI 3
The pharmacological properties of therapeutic agents used in the treatment of disorders of the central nervous system. Aspects of the physiology, chemistry, pharmacology, and the toxicology related to understanding the therapeutic use of these agents. Prereq: PSci 411/611.

643 Toxicology 2
Poisons, their mode of action, detoxification, and treatment. Prereq: PSci 411/611.

670 Pharmaceutics III: Pharmacokinetics 3
Concepts and mathematical techniques for describing the time course of drugs in biological systems.

701 Quantitative Drug Design 2
Modeling of drug disposition and receptor binding with focus on rational development of new drugs and elucidation of action mechanisms.

703 Drug Metabolism 2
Drug biotransformations and their effects on drug properties such as duration of action, potency, toxicity, and specificity. Prereq: Bioc 701, 702.

718 Techniques in Pharmaceutical Research 3
Application of modern instrumental techniques in the pharmaceutical sciences; qualitative and quantitative determination of physiologically and pharmacologically important substances.

741 Techniques of Pharmacological Research 3
Techniques of long-term pharmacological investigation and experimentation.

746 Neuropharmacology 3
Study of action mechanisms of drugs affecting the central and peripheral nervous systems.

747 Cardiovascular Pharmacology 3
Study of action mechanisms of drugs affecting the circulatory systems, including their pathology.

762 Advanced Biopharmaceutics 2
Stability and kinetic factors involved in absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of drug products. Prereq: PSci 470/670.

The following variable credit courses are also offered:


790 Graduate Seminar 1-3

793 Individual Study/Tutorial 1-5

696/796 Special Topics 1-5

798 Master's Thesis 1-10

799 Doctoral Dissertation 1-15
NDSU HOME  PHONE BOOK  CAMPUS MAP  NDSU SEARCH                                                                                                                              APPLY ONLINE

E-Mail: The Graduate School                     Prospective students may schedule a visit by calling 1-800-488-NDSU.
The Graduate School
201 Old Main
North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58105
Phone: (701) 231-7033
Fax: (701) 231-6524