The Department of Toxicology & Pharmacology is benefiting from the presence of 7 full-time academic staff members who have been training PhD students in 10 consecutive academic years, as well as training PhD General Students of pharmacy since 1996. So far, 22 of the PhD students have been graduated who are practicing their knowledge in various locations in the country from universities and research circles to legal medicine offices and toxicology reference labs. There are currently 23 PhD students conducting their dissertations at the department labs, independently or in collaboration with other academic departments at the school and/or inside the school’s research centers, or outside the SBMU campus.
The Facility:
The Department of Toxicology & Pharmacology in its new location is equipped with an academic lab with a capacity of 60 students in an area of 400 m² for conducting analytical projects and recognizing toxins in the environment and foodstuffs, and for investigating the mechanisms of toxin impacts at cell and tissue levels, as well as for identifying the effective molecules in treating cancers through cell culture, and through searching for acute and chronic intoxication impact of herbal products; and isolating, recognizing, identifying, and determining their active biological structure; determining drug toxicity impact on CNS and human behaviors, and also studying the toxico-kinetic and pharmaco-kinetic impact of drugs.
The labs in the department are presently equipped with different lab machinery including a physiography with various accompanying transducers, bio-reactors, HPLC, ELIZA, PCR, GC, 37°- CO2-included incubators, pH Meter, invert microscope, refrigerated centrifuges, distilled water and deionized (DI) water tools, balances with exactness between 0.01-0.000, shaker pipes, magnetic shakers, memory test machinery, metabolic cages, Hole Board, MES Electro-Shocking, animal electroshocking, step down passive avoidance, step through passive avoidance, specto- fleur meter, UV spect, tail flick apparatus, elevated plus maze, sterio-toxy, etc. and are all being used for student dissertations in national and departmental projects.
The fields under study of the department include:
- -Studying the chemical agent toxic effects on live cells at tissue and cell levels;
- - Investigating and studying the impacts of chemical agents on caner generation;
- - Searching the effect of toxins and drugs on embryo, and their teratogenicity;
- - Studying and searching the impact of drug toxicity on CNS and behavioral tests;
- - Toxico-kinetics and pharmaco-kinetics of toxins and drugs;
- - Analyzing, studying, and investigating the toxicology of the remaining toxins in foodstuffs and environment;
- - Identifying, and studying the impacts of animal toxins, and their ingredients on blood and muscular and nervous system;
- - Studying the effects of drugs and toxins on soft tissues;
The Department Contact Info:
E-mail: h.vatanpour@sbmu.ac.ir