Introduction to the Program

Toxicology describes the adverse effects of chemical and physical agents on living organisms. Toxicologists study the mechanism by which drugs and environmental agents contribute to cancer, respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, neurologic diseases and many other degenerative disorders. In the emerging post-genomic era, toxicology is increasingly focused on toxicogenomics and toxicoproteomics.

Genomics means large-scale studies of genes or genome of a species while proteomics is large-scale studies of proteins or proteome of a species. Toxicogenomics utilizes the tools of genomics to study how chemicals adversely affect the expression of multiple genes and the functions of the mulitiple genes. Toxicoproteomics involves the same concept for studying the proteins. Although both words have “omics”, the methodologies and skills for each discipline are quite different. We offer predoctoral and postdoctoral training opportunities in toxicology, toxicogenomics and toxicoproteomics to prepare scientists for diverse career opportunities in academia, industry and government.

The training environment in the Center for Toxicology in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Arizona offers world-class facilities, outstanding faculty and excellent quality of life in Tucson, one of America's most beautiful locales.

Our program is supported in part by a Training Grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

History of the Program

The graduate training in Toxicology at the University of Arizona began in 1973. This program was first established in response to national recognition of the public concern over environmental pollution, chemical hazards in the workplace, and chemical adulteration of food and drink. Students were initially trained for a Master's Degree in Toxicology, to address the immediate need for formal training in Toxicology.

Since 1975, 210 M.S. degrees have been awarded from our graduate program. Of these graduates, industrial companies or academic institutes employ about 65%, while 35% are enrolled in, or have graduated from M.D. or Ph.D. programs. Training of environmental toxicologists at the Ph.D. level began in 1976.

Since 1976, 199 students have been awarded the Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Toxicology. Of this number, 91 were in the Toxicology Track. As it is now (May, 2004), 51 graduate students are enrolled in the Graduate Programs of Pharmacology and Toxicology with 21 in the Toxicology Track. Students graduating from our Program are in high demand with most of our students receiving multiple job offers prior to graduation.The successful careers of many of our graduates have contributed to the recognized reputation of toxicology training at the University of Arizona. Postdoctoral training is also an important function of this Training Grant Program. Over the past 15 years, our training grant faculty at the University of Arizona have mentored 70 postdoctoral fellows, 14 of them are currently associated with the program.

The Toxicology Training Program has evolved considerably since its inception. The Training Program began as a systems-based Toxicology training, but has continued to evolve with refinements in course offerings and content, and with new courses or workshops created to meet the changing demands of toxicology research. An emphasis of current training opportunities centers on toxicogenomics and toxicoproteomics. Both the academic and research aspects of our Program are continually changing to remain competitive for sponsored research and to meet the needs of our society, our students and our research community.