What’s NEW with the PSTP?
One way we uniquely prepare students for careers in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries is our industry mentoring program with an expanded industry internship.
Students will have access to industry scientists for career advice and scientific collaboration. Many will have the option of doing 10-week internships at companies. Recent trainees have secured internships at Recursion, Lilly, Pfizer, Takeda, Boehringer Ingelheim, Gilead, Genentech, and the FDA.
The pre-doctoral Pharmacological Sciences Training Program (PSTP) at the University of Washington (UW) is a cross-disciplinary program that represents a merger of research training opportunities in the Schools of Medicine (Dept. Pharmacology) and Pharmacy (Depts. Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmaceutics). The program has been supported by a training grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (T32GM007750) since 1979. PSTP provides traineeships for 12 graduate students working towards their PhD in the broad areas of “Drug Action, Metabolism and Kinetics,” but following more specific tracks that emphasize training in:
- cellular and molecular pharmacology;
- drug metabolism and toxicity;
- drug pharmacokinetics, disposition, and delivery;
- biological structure and drug design.
The program provides essential in-depth training in several inter-related disciplines central to current and future research related to the discovery, validation, and development of new drug targets and new chemical entities that will improve global health.
Research in molecular mechanisms of drug action, metabolism, and pharmacokinetics constitute core activities of training grant faculty in all three departments. Faculty in pharmacology at the UW have long been recognized for ground-breaking research in signal transduction, ion channel structure and function, neuropharmacology, drug addiction, stem cell biology, behavior and memory; while Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmaceutics are unique in providing integrated, advanced training in the disciplines of drug disposition (metabolism and transport), pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics.
The PhD degree programs of the three departments have many operational similarities with some differences:
- Each department recruits graduate students and makes admission decisions individually, based on academic record, letters of recommendation, and research experience.
- Each department has its own required courses, research rotations, and seminars in the first year, and responsibility for monitoring progress of its graduate students.
Students choose a research advisor at the end of the first year. Research rotations in the first year may be done with faculty in any department, regardless of the graduate program of entry to the University. Students may transfer among graduate programs of departments by standard procedures of the Graduate School of the University.
Entry into the Pharmacological Sciences Training Grant Program (NIGMS National Research Service Award in Pharmacological Sciences) is by competitive application of eligible students (U.S. citizens) during their first three years in graduate school (**link to prior year’s application guide**). We intend to select the most highly qualified students into the Program, while maintaining appropriate breadth across the three core disciplines. Appointment to the PSTP provides opportunities to participate in program-specific Pharmacology courses, local scientific retreats, career seminars, and research-relevant biostatistics courses.
Students apply to the Program in early Spring Quarter, with successful applicants appointed on July 1 of each year. Students are supported for a maximum of 24 months. Subsequent support, if needed to complete the PhD degree, comes from research grant sources of the major professor.
The Pharmacological Sciences Training Grant is committed to recruiting academically underrepresented graduate students to the PSTP. We value and honor diverse experiences and perspectives, strive to create welcoming and respectful learning environments, and promote access and opportunity for all of our students.
Please see the many resources on campus listed below that are available to help students of all backgrounds and circumstances. Additional information can be obtained by contacting the Program Directors, Dr. Libin Xu and Dr Bill Atkins.
Disability Services Office
http://www.washington.edu/admin/dso/
Graduate Student Equity and Excellence (GSEE)
https://grad.uw.edu/equity-justice/gsee-graduate-student-equity-excellence/
UW Chapter of SACNAS (Advancing Hispanics/Chicanos & Native Americans in Science)
http://students.washington.edu/sacnas/
Native Life and Tribal Relations
http://www.washington.edu/diversity/tribal-relations/
The DO-IT Center (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology)
http://www.washington.edu/doit/
First Generation Huskies
https://firstgen.uw.edu/
Research Focus: Department of Medicinal Chemistry
Dr. Bill Atkins (PSTP Co-Director) Structure, function, and mechanism of dug metabolizing enzymes and transporters, with projects that concern cytochromes P450, glutathione Stransferases, and P-glycoprotein. Students in his lab use a wide range of spectroscopic, kinetic, thermodynamic, and structural methods to understand the puzzling allosteric properties of drug-metabolizing enzymes.
Dr. Libin Xu (PSTP Co-Director) The impact of drugs and environmental chemicals on the nervous system, kidney, liver, and microbiome, large-scale screening of xenobiotic metabolism using human liver fractions, and the role of lipid metabolism in human diseases. Students in his lab receive extensive training in designing and executing drug metabolism studies and mass spectrometry-based omics technologies.
Dr. Kimberly Alonge Understanding the functional significance of extracellular matrix changes in a variety of neurometabolic diseases. Students in her lab gain extensive training in neurobiology, immunohistochemistry, and mass spectrometry techniques.
Dr. Gaurav Bhardwaj The interface of computational molecular design, high-throughput chemical synthesis, and chemical biology. He aims to develop a general platform for the rational structure-guided design of new peptide and protein therapeutics and diagnostics. Students in his lab train to develop new methods for computational molecular design and apply those methods to develop new therapeutics and diagnostics.
Dr. Julia Cui The role of gut microbiome and microbial metabolites in modulating the host xenobiotic biotransformation and intermediary metabolism. Students in her lab undergo training in designing animal work, mass spectrometry, and bioinformatics of various sequencing-based omics analyses.
Dr. Rheem Totah Over 20 years of experience in drug metabolism, interactions, and drug-induced cardiotoxicity involving cytochrome P450 enzymes and thiol methyl transferases. Students in her lab gain expertise in LC-MS/MS method development and biochemical techniques to clone, express, purify, and quantify various proteins in the liver, heart, and kidney.
Dr. Miklos Guttman Aims to develop and expand analytical tools for characterizing challenging biological targets, such as glycans, glycoproteins, and therapeutic antibodies. His students gain intensive training in liquidphase hydrogen/deuterium exchange-mass spectrometry (HDX-MS) for characterizing protein dynamics and interactions, ion mobility spectrometry, and gas-phase hydrogen/deuterium exchange.
Dr. Kelly Lee Uses structural and biophysical methods to characterize enveloped virus surface glycoproteins and conformational changes they carry out in order to invade host cells. His students gain expertise in using Cryo-Electron Microscopy (cryo-EM), Tomography (cryo-ET), and HDX-MS to investigate structure, dynamics, and conformational change in viruses.
Dr. Abhinav Nath Understanding the heterogeneous behavior of highly dynamic, intrinsically disordered and/or aggregation-prone proteins and determining the factors that affect the activity, stability, and aggregation state of protein-based therapeutics. Students in his lab employ a range of techniques from biophysics, biochemistry, and pharmacology, including single-molecule fluorescence, NMR, mass spectrometry, numerical modeling, and molecular simulations.
Research Focus: Department of Pharmaceutics
Dr. Ed Kelly Utilizing a kidney-on-a-chip microphysiological system (MPS) to model human disease and toxicological response to drugs or xenobiotics. Dr. Kelly’s work on kidney chip was specifically chosen by NASA to bring disease models into the space microgravity environment. Students in his lab gain experience in studying drug disposition and toxicity using MPS, fluorescence imaging, and RNA sequencing.
Dr. Nina Isoherranen Uses physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) models of drug disposition under various conditions, including drug-drug interactions, disease states, and developmental states such as pregnancy. Students in her lab gain expertise in drug metabolism, drug transport, pharmacokinetics, and mass spectrometry.
Dr. Yvonne Lin Vitamin D disposition under disease states and the impact of gut microbiota on drug metabolism and transport processes in major organs of drug elimination. Students in her lab receive training in carrying out clinical studies and pharmacokinetics.
Dr. Joanne Wang Membrane transporters that are important for the distribution of drugs to and from the CNS and across the placental barrier. Students in her lab gain expertise in in vitro models of drug and nutrient transporters, animal study design, and tissue culture and imaging.
Dr. Sam Arnold The critical need to improve the absorption and delivery of anti-infectives drugs to the sites of infection in the body, most importantly to infections of the gastrointestinal tract. Students in his lab receive training in PBPK modeling, cell culture, mass spectrometry, and proteomics.
Dr. Rodney Ho Developing novel drug delivery platforms for the treatment of HIV infection/AIDS and cancer, specifically using novel lipid nanoparticles for multiple-drug delivery. Students in his lab will learn preparation and characterization of lipid nanoparticles and carrying out animal studies and clinical work.
Dr. Jay Panyam (Dean and Professor) Using novel drug delivery approaches to enhance immunotherapies (e.g., vaccines) for the treatment of cancer. Students in his lab gain expertise in polymeric nano delivery systems, antibody-drug conjugates, anticancer vaccines, and cellular and animal tumor models.
Dr. Shijie Cao Developing innovative and translatable tools to prevent and treat a range of immunological disorders, including allergies, inflammation, and autoimmune diseases. Past PSTP trainee in his lab is developing microbiota-mimicking nanocarriers for modulation of neuroinflammation via the gut-brain axis.
Dr. Swayam Prabha The development of cellular carriers for anticancer drug delivery. Students in her lab gain expertise in mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) surface functionalization techniques that enable the incorporation of antibodies and cytokines in MSCs, as well as orthotopic tumor models.
Dr. Qingxin Mu Development of advanced drug delivery approaches, such as nanoparticles, to enhance pharmacological outcomes of anti-cancer therapies (e.g., treatment of metastatic TNBC). Students in his lab receive training in the preparation and characterization of novel nanoparticles and testing of the efficacy of these nanoparticles in cellular and animal models.
Dr. Melissa Barker-Haliski Development of novel and more effective treatments to control seizures in patients with epilepsy, Alzheimer’s, and other neurological diseases. A current PhD candidate in Neuroscience is investigating precision medicine strategies to manage acute seizures in Alzheimer’s disease.
Research Focus: Department of Pharmacology
Dr. David Shechner RNA biology, aiming to elucidate how RNA molecules influence mammalian development and how their dysregulation contributes to disease. Students in his lab will have the chance to work on innovative projects, such as exploring RNA splicing factories in cardiomyopathy.
Dr. Devasena Ponnalagu The role of chloride homeostasis and its impact on diabetes and cardiomyopathy. Students in her lab will have the chance to explore projects such as examining how chloride intracellular channels affect mitochondrial and cellular physiology. The lab utilizes advanced techniques in molecular biology, biochemistry, and electrophysiology, offering a robust training environment.
Dr. Smita Yadav Understanding how aberrant kinase pathways contribute to conditions such as autism and other neurological disorders. Students in her lab will engage in cutting-edge projects like characterizing disease-associated kinases to uncover their roles in neuronal development and how their dysfunction contributes to disease.
Dr. John Scott Spatial and temporal control of cell signaling by A-Kinase anchoring proteins (AKAPs) offers a rich training ground. Students in his lab can engage in projects that explore the mechanisms by which AKAPs regulate critical physiological processes and learn cutting-edge techniques, including live-cell imaging, electrophysiology, and biochemical approaches.
Dr. Yasemin Sancak Understanding how mitochondrial functions are regulated, particularly through calcium signaling, and how these processes are altered in disease states. In her lab, students can engage in cutting-edge projects, such as studying how mitochondrial calcium signaling contributes to metabolic changes in liver cancer, a disease predominantly affecting children and young adults.
Dr. Brock Grill Using the model organism C. elegans to pioneer studies on neuronal proteomics and ubiquitin ligase signaling, uncovering novel mechanisms that regulate synapse formation, axon termination, and opioid receptor signaling. Students in Dr. Grill’s lab can investigate the genetic mechanisms of opioid receptor signaling, the regulation of opioid sensitivity and tolerance by ubiquitin ligase networks, or the processes that underlie synapse formation and axon termination in C. elegans.
Dr. Oscar Vivas Research focused on how the autonomic nervous system’s function deteriorates with age and under pathological conditions. His lab offers an opportunity for students to discover mechanisms underlying the age-associated loss of organ control and gain skills in advanced techniques like tissue mapping, electrophysiology, quantitative fluorometry, and proteomics to probe the cellular and molecular properties regulating autonomic function.
Dr. Nephi Stella Molecular mechanisms and therapeutic potential of cannabinoid-based drugs, particularly in treating neurological diseases. His lab offers students the opportunity to engage in pioneering projects, such as investigating the role of endocannabinoids in brain function and studying the effects of cannabinoid-like medicinal compounds on locomotor activity, and learn stateof-the-art techniques, such as animal movement tracking tools and genetically encoded biosensors.
Dr. Larry Zweifel Genetic regulation of neural circuitry and its impact on behavior. Dr. Zweifel’s lab employs an array of advanced techniques, including optogenetics, calcium imaging, and in vivo electrophysiology. Students can work on projects ranging from understanding the dysregulation of dopamine neuron activity patterns to exploring the neural circuits involved in drug addiction and stress-induced behaviors.
Dr. Garret Stuber An exceptional platform for students to explore the neural circuitry underlying motivated behaviors, particularly those disrupted in conditions like obesity, addiction, pain, and depression, and learn cutting-edge techniques like two-photon microscopy, single-cell transcriptional profiling, and optogenetics.
Dr. Michael Bruchas Dissecting G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) signaling pathways within the nervous system, utilizing cutting-edge techniques such as optogenetics, imaging, and behavioral assays. Dr. Bruchas’s lab offers a multidisciplinary environment ideal for students interested in exploring the intersections of neuroscience, pharmacology, and behavior.
Dr. Vincenzino Cirulli Mechanisms of cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions as regulatory cues that affect developmental decisions in the embryonic pancreas, with special emphasis on their function in the pancreatic islet cell lineage. Students in his lab gain hands-on experience in the developmental biology of islet cells using both rodent and human cell models and the biology of stem cells and regenerative medicine.
Dr. Shao-En Ong Understanding the intricate connections between the proteome, ligands, and post-translational modifications to unravel their roles in cellular signaling pathways. Students in Dr. Ong’s lab can engage in using pharmacoproteomics to define signaling pathways, predict drug responses, and identify biomarkers of kinase response in cancer.
Dr. Ning Zheng Molecular and structural mechanisms governing protein-protein interactions and their implications in eukaryotic biology and human diseases. Students in his lab can engage in projects that range from investigating the structural basis of ubiquitin ligase complexes to exploring the structural biology of ion channels. Dr. Zheng is a Co-Director of the Molecular Biophysics Training Program and is extensively involved in the development of synergistic activities among training programs.
PSTP Alumni
The success of the PSTG over the past 15 years is clear, based on standard metrics, as summarized below. In general, a majority of our trainees are now in careers in the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industries. In some cases they accept an academic postdoctoral position before entering the industry sector, but in many cases they go directly into industry careers immediately after earning their Ph.D. Among these graduates, former trainees of the program hold executive and high-level management positions at major companies including Amgen, Merck, Pfizer, Genentech, Lilly, and many others. We also strive to place interested students in academic positions. These trainees are nearly always successful in getting postdoctoral positions in excellent labs at top-notch universities, which is the first step toward getting a faculty position. Fewer students choose to go to the FDA or other government labs and we support those students in their job searches. Our trainees complete their degrees in approximately 5.6 years after entering their respective departmental graduate programs. Importantly, the overall graduation rate of trainees is over 90%. We work hard to ensure that students successfully complete the program once they are admitted.
Outcomes for our PSTP Alumni over the past 15 years
- Trainees graduated with PhDs: 76 (88.4%)
- Average time to PhD completion: 5.63 years
- Career types after earning their PhD:
