Where can I study Pharmacology?
In South Africa, Pharmacology as a discipline is often included in life sciences, medical sciences and various professional undergraduate programmes. There is currently no undergraduate degree that is primarily focused on Pharmacology (for example, a Bachelor of Science specialising in Pharmacology). In time, such programmes may develop. In South Africa, Pharmacology (or associated fields such as Pharmaceutical Sciences) as a discipline is approached at an Honours, Masters, Doctoral, Masters in Medicine or Master in Philosophy postgraduate level.
Department of Pharmacology (Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University; Gauteng)
No information as of yet.
Department of Pharmacology (University of Pretoria; Gauteng)
- Head of Department: Prof Natalie Schellack
- Undergraduate programmes involved with: Biomedical / Medical Sciences / Life Sciences; Clinical Medical Practice / Clinical Associates; Dentistry; Dietetics; Medicine; Nursing / Midwifery; Oral Hygiene; Physiotherapy
- Postgraduate programmes offered: Honours; MSc; MPharmMed; PhD
- Instagram: @tuks_pharmacology
- LinkedIn: Department of Pharmacology, University of Pretoria
- Research focus areas:
- Laboratory research: Cancer biology and proteomics; pharmacogenomics; spheroid cancer models for chemoresistance and dormancy.
- Clinical research: Cancer; drug safety and pharmacovigilance; infectious diseases and antimicrobial stewardship; precision medicine; psychodelic therapeutics; real-world clinical research; indigenous knowledge-informed research
- Health professions research: Health and care workforce pharmacology competency development; artificial intelligence and medication misinformation; alteration of prescribing responsibilities of practitioners.
Division of Pharmacology (University of the Witwatersrand; Gauteng)
No information as of yet.
Department of Pharmacy, Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacology Stream (Nelson Mandela University; Eastern Cape)
- Head of Department: Mr Michael Naidoo
- Undergraduate programmes involved with: Pharmacy
- Postgraduate programmes offered: MSc; PhD
- Research focus areas (https://pharmacy.mandela.ac.za/):
- Drug utilisation research; device-assisted disease management.
- Pharmacovigilance.
- Traditional medicine research.
- Preclinical laboratory research using cell culture models.
Division of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy (Rhodes University; Eastern Cape)
- Head of Department: Prof Mmamosheledi Mamza Madiba
- Undergraduate programmes involved with: Pharmacy
- Postgraduate programmes offered: MSc; MPharm; PhD
- LinkedIn: Division of Pharmacology, Rhodes University
- Research focus areas:
- Ethnopharmacology and ethnopharmacy; pharmacological characterisation of medicinal plants; ethnopharmacological surveys in the Sarah Baartman district.
- Diabetes-focused drug discovery; insulin resistance models in vitro; alternative insulin delivery methods; mitochondrial toxicity linked to diabetes risk.
- Mental healthcare; psychopharmacology; evaluation of psychiatric therapies; impact of mental health on non-communicable diseases; clinical pharmacokinetics and personalised medicine.
- Detection, monitoring and management of adverse drug reactions in selected public hospitals in the Eastern Cape.
- Development of intervention frameworks.
Division of Pharmacology (Walter Sisulu University; Eastern Cape)
- Head of Department: Prof Thozama Dubula
- Undergraduate programmes involved with: Nursing / Midwifery; Medicine
Department of Pharmacology (University of the Free State; Free State)
- Head of Department: Prof Paulina van Zyl
- Undergraduate programmes involved with: Biokinetics; Dietetics; Medicine; Nursing / Midwifery; Occupational Therapy; Optometry; Physiotherapy
- Postgraduate programmes offered: Honours; MSc; MMed; PhD
- Research focus areas:
- African Medicines Innovations and Technology Development (AMITD): Medicinal plant drug discovery; indigenous knowledge–driven medicinal plant research targeting priority health conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, respiratory diseases and infectious diseases; standardisation, clinical validation, regulatory translation and commercialisation of African-derived health products.
- Targeted chemotherapeutic nano-delivery systems.
- Overcoming drug resistance in cancer treatment.
- Pharmacogenetic markers of drug response in prostate cancer.
Division of Pharmacology, Discipline of Pharmaceutical Sciences (University of KwaZulu-Natal; KwaZulu-Natal)
- Head of Department: Not provided; survey entry lists School of Health Sciences
- Undergraduate programmes involved with: Medicine; Nursing / Midwifery; Occupational Therapy; Optometry; Oral Hygiene; Pharmacy; Physiotherapy
- Postgraduate programmes offered: MSc; MMed; MPharm; PhD
- Research focus areas:
- Ethnopharmacology.
- Cancer medicines.
- Clinical pharmacology projects.
Division of Pharmacology and Pharmacen (North-West University; North West)
- Head of Department: Prof Stephan Steyn (undergraduate); Prof Dewet Wolmarans (postgraduate)
- Undergraduate programmes involved with: Medicine; Nursing / Midwifery; Pharmacy
- Postgraduate programmes offered: MSc; PhD
- Research focus areas:
- Preclinical neuropsychopharmacology.
- Animal models of psychiatric disorders.
Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Department of Medicine (Stellenbosch University; Western Cape)
- Head of Department: Prof Eric Decloedt
- Undergraduate programmes involved with: Medicine; Nursing / Midwifery; Physiotherapy
- Postgraduate programmes offered: Honours; MSc; MMed; PhD; Postgraduate Diploma
- Instagram: @su_clinpharm
- LinkedIn: Division of Clinical Pharmacology | Stellenbosch University
- Research focus areas
- Clinical pharmacology.
- Medical toxicology and poisons information.
- Analytical pharmacology and clinical pharmacology laboratory-based research.
- Pharmacometrics.
Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Department of Medicine (University of Cape Town; Western Cape)
- Head of Department: Prof Phumla Sinxadi
- Undergraduate programmes involved with: Medicine; Physiotherapy
- Postgraduate programmes offered: Honours; MSc; MMed; PhD
- Research focus areas:
- Clinical research on drugs for malaria, tuberculosis and HIV; clinical trials; pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics.
- Drug discovery linked to malaria, tuberculosis and HIV.
- Pharmacometrics; pharmacogenomics.
- Pharmacovigilance.
- Pharmacoeconomic evaluation.
Division of Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacy (University of the Western Cape; Western Cape)
- Head of Department: Prof Star Khoza
- Undergraduate programmes involved with: Dentistry; Dietetics; Nursing / Midwifery; Occupational Therapy; Oral Hygiene; Pharmacy; Physiotherapy
- Postgraduate programmes offered: MSc; MPharm; PhD; Postgraduate Diploma; MClinPharm
- Research focus areas:
- Drug discovery for diabetes mellitus; cathepsin inhibitors in cardiovascular diseases; neuropsychopharmacology; preclinical behavioural pharmacology in zebrafish; nanomedicine and infectious diseases.
- Computational drug discovery and development; bioinformatics; cheminformatics; data analytics; machine learning.
- Pharmacogenomics; reproductive and sexual health; paediatric pharmacy; antimicrobial stewardship.
- Health research ethics.