The Department of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences is one of the international leaders in the area of pharmaceutical research, particularly in the areas of molecular mechanisms of disease, drug design, development, targeting and delivery. The Department houses the School's highest funded research programs, receiving a substantial portion of that funding from the National Institutes of Health.

The Department owes its success to:

• Research programs recognized by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.
• Strong industry partnerships.
• A national and internationally recognized faculty.
• Research expertise that spans basic molecular mechanisms to clinical investigation.
• High institutional visibility.
• Extensive research collaborations throughout USC, across the nation and around the world.

Department faculty are awarded support from numerous sources, including grants and contracts from governments, foundations and pharmaceutical industries. They also hold leadership positions in major pharmaceutical societies and on committees for various regulatory agencies, and have spoken at national and international meetings and conferences.

Despite achieving scientific excellence through publication and editorial positions in leading journals and election to prominent grant review panels, faculty are able to take an active interest in mentoring professional and graduate students. Under their guidance and advice, graduate students in the Department have received awards for outstanding presentations in nationwide competitions at the annual meetings of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists during the past five years.