Research Areas

Research has always been the strength of the faculty. We have one of the largest faculties of pharmacy in Canada that excels in transferring its research to the marketplace. The research interests of our academic staff are one of the most diverse on campus.

Pharmacy Practice

Clinical

Patient-oriented research conducted with human subjects; which includes mechanisms of human disease, therapeutic interventions, clinical trials, development of new technologies (National Institute of Health).

Researchers: Dr. Jill Hall, Dr. Christine Hughes , Dr. Tony KL Kiang, Dr. Sherif Mahmoud and Dr. Nese Yuksel

Education

A field of inquiry aimed at advancing knowledge of education and learning processes and development of the tools and methods necessary to support this endeavour. (American Educational Research Association).

Researchers: Dr. Ken Cor, Dr. Neal Davies, Dr. Lisa Guirguis, Dr. Cheryl Sadowski and Dr. Scot Simpson

Health Services

Improving the way health care services are organized, regulated, managed, financed, paid for, used and delivered, in the interest of improving the health and quality of life of all Canadians (CIHR).

Researchers: Dr. Mark Makowsky, Dr. Cheryl Sadowski, Dr. Scot Simpson and Dr. Nese Yuksel

Knowledge Translation

Using knowledge obtained from research to inform the decision making of health-care professionals and improve outcomes (CIHR).

Researchers: Dr. Sherif Mahmoud and Dr. Mark Makowsky

Pharmacoepidemiology

Provides an estimate of the probability of beneficial effects of a drug in a population and the probability of adverse effects (Johns Hopkins University).

Researchers: Dr. Jill Hall and Dr. Scot Simpson

Pharmacy Practice

Focuses on the assessment and evaluation of pharmacy practice. It includes studies that evaluate pharmacists' roles in a variety of capacities (CPhA).

Researchers: Dr. René Breault , Dr. Lisa Guirguis and Dr. Terri Schindel

Social Administrative

The "people" aspect of pharmacy and medication use. Focusing on the scientific and humanistic bases for understanding and influencing interactions involving patients, medicines, caregivers and health-care systems (University of Wisconsin).

Researchers: Dr. Lisa Guirguis and Dr. Terri Schindel

Pharmaceutical Sciences

Cardiovascular

Researchers: Dr. Fakhreddin Jamali, Dr. Paul Jurasz, Dr. John Seubert, Dr. John Ussher, Dr. Dion Brocks and Dr. Khaled Barakat

Computational Drug Discovery

Research in this area uses tools to discover new antiviral and immune checkpoints' small molecule drugs and specializes in understanding the nature and biophysical processes underlying protein-drug interaction, protein-protein interactions, protein-DNA interactions, drug off-target interactions and predicting drug-mediated toxicity.

Researchers: Dr. Khaled Barakat

Drug Delivery

A field that concentrates on formulation methods and technologies that are employed to transport pharmaceutical compounds to various sites in the body. It may include synthetic drug carrier systems capable of improving the bioavailability and/or tissue-specific targeting of an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) to the site of desired drug action, such as bone drug delivery or drug targeting of cancer cells.

Researchers: Dr. Neal Davies, Dr. Michael Doschak, Dr. Afsaneh Lavasanifar and Dr. Raimar Löbenberg

Medical Chemistry

Researchers: Dr. Carlos Velázquez and Dr. Khaled Barakat

Neurology/Critical Care

Research in this area aims for improving outcomes in patients with neurological emergencies (subarachnoid haemorrhage, intracerebral haemorrhage, ischemic stroke, traumatic brain injury and status epilepticus) and patients with epilepsy through pharmacotherapy optimization of existing therapies and translation of new treatments.

Researchers: Dr. Sherif Mahmoud

Obesity/Type 2 Diabetes

Researchers: Dr. John Ussher

Pharmacodynamics

Studies of what a drug does to the body. Drug effect involves receptor binding, post-receptor effects and biochemical interactions. It is a drug's pharmacokinetics that determines the onset, duration and intensity of a drug's effect.

Researchers: Dr. Dion Brocks, Dr. Tony Kiang and Dr. Sherif Mahmoud

Pharmacogenetics

Studies how variation in one single gene influences the response to a single drug.

Researchers: Dr. Dion Brocks, Dr. Tony Kiang and Dr. Sherif Mahmoud

Pharmacogenomics

Studies on how all the genes that comprise the genome can influence drug responses through pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics mediated effects.

Researchers: Dr. Tony Kiang

Pharmacokinetics

Studies on what the body does to a drug. This field deals with the movement of a drug over time into, through and out of the body via the processes of absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion and transport.

Researchers: Dr. Dion Brocks, Dr. Neal Davies, Dr. Fakhreddin Jamali, Dr. Tony Kiang and Dr. Sherif Mahmoud

Pharmacometrics

An emerging science that quantifies drug, disease and clinical trial information for drug development. Originally focusing on concentration-effect, dose-effect and PKPD relationships. It has expanded to develop disease models and quantitative relationships between biomarkers and clinical response.

Researchers: Dr. Dion Brocks and Dr. Tony Kiang

Pharmacology and Toxicology

Researchers: Dr. Khaled Barakat, Dr. Ayman El-Kadi, Dr. Fakhreddin Jamali, Dr. Tony Kiang, Dr. John Seubert and Dr. Arno Siraki

Translational Pharmacology

Researchers: Dr. Tony Kiang