Research Areas

Personalized or precision medicine necessitates a comprehensive and integrated approach to mechanisms underlying drug action. While pursuing new initiatives in Clinical and Translational Sciences, Pharmacogenomics, Systems Approaches, Medicinal Chemistry and Drug Discovery, the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (SSPPS) continues to build in its core areas of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Biophysics, Toxicology and Cancer Pharmacology, as well as in Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and multiple clinical specialties.

Pharmaceutical Biotechnology. With its roots in classical pharmaceutics, Pharmaceutical Biotechnology focuses on newer macromolecular pharmaceuticals such as proteins and nucleic acids. Especially relevant for vaccines and therapeutic antibodies, this area of study focuses on stability, formulation and targeted delivery. With co-directors from both the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder, the Center for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology is recognized for its innovative research, excellence in PhD education and annual conferences attracting scientists from around the globe.

Molecular Biophysics explores the thermodynamic and kinetic mechanisms responsible for biological regulation. Areas of emphasis include analysis of transcription factor-gene promoter interactions; characterization of viral assembly and DNA packaging; and studies of protein stability and misfolding in human diseases.

Molecular Toxicology focuses on elucidation of molecular mechanisms of toxicity of drugs and pollutants, and includes metabolic, pharmacogenomics, proteomic and metabolomics approaches. These techniques allow studies of individual susceptibility and isolation of predictive biomarkers of toxicity.

Cancer Pharmacology focuses on signaling mechanisms critical in obtaining the desired response associated with chemotherapy and cancer prevention. Areas of emphasis include chemoprevention by natural products.

Clinical and Translational Sciences examines the importance of pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and pharmacogenetics that influence clinical response. The Center for Translational Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacogenomics was developed to provide a focus in this area of clinical pharmacology for investigators across the campus and region.

Drug Discovery. Areas of focus include structure based drug design, computational modeling of drug-target interactions and natural product chemistry. The medicinal chemistry focus is supported by three integrated drug discovery catalyst facilities:

The Computational Chemistry and Biochemistry catalyst facility provides molecular docking studies, pharmacophore modeling, ligand design, virtual screening of compound libraries and computational modeling of protein-protein interactions. The Medicinal Chemistry catalyst facility performs synthesis, analysis, metabolic studies and assistance in lead compound optimization. The High Throughput Screening (HTS) catalyst facility performs validation of screens for applications and screening of compound libraries against potential therapeutic targets.

Systems Approaches. Since many of the research applications employed today require the use of combined omic approaches, the department operates a Mass Spectrometry core facility, which provides analytical resources for metabolomics, proteomic and small molecule analysis. These resources facilitate biomarker analysis and allow complete analysis of metabolomics and proteomic changes associated with drugs and toxicants. Bioinformatic approaches and studies of the microbiome allow an integrated systems approach to mechanisms of drug action.

Nanomedicine and Nanosafety. A critical mass of investigators exploit nanoparticles for targeted drug delivery and imaging. Nanoparticles can also induce immune mediated effects and other toxicities so the Colorado Center for Nanomedicine and Nanosafety was established to provide a focus for nano-based research in the state.

Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research is one area of expertise in the Department of Clinical Pharmacy and is led by faculty in the Center for Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research. The center has also been recently developed to provide a focus for outcomes research activities in the state.