Head of Department:  
Dr. Brian Pearce

About the Department:
The Department of Pharmacology was founded in 1926. It is one of the oldest and largest departments of pharmacology in the UK and has a long and distinguished history. It was originally formed as the 'Pharmacological Laboratories' at The Pharmaceutical Society. Since joining The School of Pharmacy, the Department has played a major role in the development of Pharmacology in the UK and eminent pharmacologists who trained here are to be found in academe and in industry all over the world.

Our major research activities centre around the regulation and function of the nervous system, focusing particularly on synaptic function and neuronal circuitry in health and disease. A wide range of technical and theoretical approaches are employed to study normal brain function and to uncover the fundamental causes of a wide range of neurological and psychiatric diseases and to identify possible therapeutic targets.

Our portfolio is broadened by studies of the mechanisms involved in limiting the traffic of inflammatory or tumour cells from the circulation to sites of inflammation or metastasis. The Centre for Toxicology is co-ordinating a major European initiative investigating xenooestrogens.