About
The Department of Medicinal Chemistry is one the oldest departments in the School of Pharmacy which was established in 1963. The major mission of this Department is to create new knowledge for the discovery and development of new pharmaceutical drugs. Since twenty years ago, the mission was developed to conduct basic research in chemistry and biological chemistry as it is related to drug discovery, teaching these principles in the professional and graduate programs, and providing services to the scientific community. The scope of this field is sufficiently broad to give students with many different science backgrounds a rewarding and challenging program of study. Areas of active interest include drug discovery, organic synthesis of medicinal agents, natural product chemistry, prodrugs, molecular modeling, and pharmaceutical analysis. There is a broad range of research projects that introduce new analytical methods for determination of drugs in pharmaceutical dosage forms and biological fluids.
Current major research programs are :
• Discovery and validation of new anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, antibiotic, anti Alzheimer and anti-hypertension drugs
• Computational modeling and simulation of biomolecular structures, dynamics and interactions
• Isolation and identification of natural products
• Application of Mass, NMR and other spectrophotometry techniques to the elucidation of natural products and small molecular structures
• Synthesis and evaluation of novel biopolymers for site-targeted drug delivery
• Synthesis of new chromogenic and fluorogenic markers for analysis of elements and drugs
• Development of new analytical methods for determination and identification of chemical compounds and drugs in different matrix.
At the moment, the Department includes 13 faculty members, six full professor, five associate professor, and two assistant professor. Other staff include several organic and analytical chemists with M.Sc. and B.Sc. degree who work in different laboratories of the Department.
Radioisotopes in different physical and chemical forms other than being used as radiation sources for therapy have tremendous applications as tracers for diagnosis in nuclear medicine as well as in drug discovery and drug development. The Department of Radiopharmacy, in cooperation with Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute of Iran Atomic Energy Organization, has established the Ph.D. program in radiopharmacy to provide graduate education and research for development and the safe use of radiopharmaceuticals. The graduates of this program have had great contribution to self-sufficiency of the country for most radiopharmaceuticals, fulfilled national universities and research institutions, demands to scholars and expertise in this field, and results of their investigations have been granted as patents and published in numerous highly cited articles. The aim of this Department is to enhance development of the graduate students as the next generation of scholars in this field through promotion of the quality of both education and research.
With increasing use of radiopharmaceuticals in diagnosis, therapy and research and in order to fulfill national demands for expertise in this field, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, with contributions of Iran Atomic Energy Organization, established the Ph.D. program in radiopharmacy in 1995. The program was revised in 2002, and since 2009, is offered by an independent Department called Radiopharmacy. Most graduates of this program have been working in national universities and Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute of Iran Atomic Energy Organization and are well known nationally and internationally for development of radiopharmaceuticals and research achievements.
Mission
The main mission of the Department of Radiopharmacy is to offer internationally recognized and high quality education and research that fulfills the national demands for future scholars and expertise in this field. The program affords individuals the scientific knowledge and skills in design, preparation, formulation and quality control of gamma and positron emitting radiopharmaceuticals for use in research and future clinical applications in nuclear medicine. The Department is actively engaged in the development of radiolabelled monoclonal antibodies, radiosensitizing agents, and contrast media for MRI, nanoradiopharmacy, and molecular imaging.
Vision
We aim to be recognized nationally and internationally for education and research in development and safe use of novel radiopharmaceuticals.
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Head of Department
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