Pharmaceutical Chemistry
Where organic synthesis meets biology — designing, building, and understanding the molecules that become medicines.
Pharmaceutical Chemistry
Pharmaceutical and medicinal chemistry sits at the intersection of chemistry — especially synthetic organic chemistry — and pharmacology and various other biological specialities, involving the search, chemical synthesis, design, and development of pharmaceutical agents. The Department of Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry has a rich history and tradition of academic excellence; more than three hundred graduates have completed the program, many going on to leadership positions in academia, government, and industry.
Our alumni work in teaching, research, and service activities within universities, medical centres, research institutes, consulting firms, government agencies, and pharmaceutical and chemical firms, with graduate programmes spanning methodologies from molecular to clinical pharmaceutical chemistry.
An Interdisciplinary Science
At the biological interface, medicinal chemistry combines organic, physical, and computational emphases with biological areas such as biochemistry, molecular biology, pharmacognosy, pharmacology, and toxicology.
Organic Chemistry
Synthesis of new chemical entities
Biochemistry
Mechanism of action at the molecular level
Pharmacology
Structure-activity relationship (SAR)
Computational Chemistry
In-silico drug design & modelling
Core Focus Areas
Molecular Design
Identification, design, and systematic synthetic alteration of new chemical entities to make them suitable for therapeutic use.
Synthetic & Natural Products
Synthetic organic chemistry alongside aspects of natural products chemistry in the discovery of new therapeutic agents.
Structure-Activity Studies
Understanding structure-activity relationships (SAR) of existing drugs to assess and improve their biological activity.
300+
Graduates have completed the programme to date.
Industry & Academia
Alumni hold leadership positions across both sectors.
Molecular to Clinical
Graduate programmes span the full discovery pipeline.