Department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

The Department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences is equally committed to understanding inter-individual differences in response to medications, translating research findings to improve treatment outcomes, and providing the best and most comprehensive clinical care for our patients. The translational space created by the combination of fundamental research efforts and clinical application is transformative for patients and families. The Department comprises The Division of Pharmaceutical Sciences (with a primary mission of research), and The Division of Pharmaceutical Services (with a primary mission of clinical care). The department is also home to the licensed Clinical Pharmacokinetics and Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Laboratory, which facilitates measurement of drug levels in every patient at St. Jude, providing an invaluable resource for optimizing drug therapy. Additionally, the Department houses the Cancer Center’s Pharmacokinetics Shared Resource - centralizing high-quality pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic clinical research.

Our vision is to be a premier academic department in pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences, encompassing clinical pharmaceutical care and research, with special expertise in therapeutics relevant for children with catastrophic diseases. Survival rates for children with cancer, hematologic disorders, HIV infection, or other serious diseases continue to increase, largely through the improved use of medications. Failure of current therapies and unacceptable adverse effects are in part due to suboptimal use of medications. Our goal is to elucidate the biological basis of interindividual differences in pharmacologic response, to translate our findings into more rational therapeutics, and to improve patient care by ensuring safe, effective, and rational use of medications. We continue to look for the next technological advancement and new, sophisticated, questions to drive our work forward and improve patient care.