Department of Pharmacology, Therapeutics, and Toxicology
Welcome Note
I am pleased to welcome you to the Department of Pharmacology, Therapeutics and Toxicology, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine of the University of Lagos.
Pharmacology is defined as the scientific study of drugs in living organisms. As a discipline, it is both a Basic and Clinical Science.
The Department, established as a full-fledged Department in 1970, was re-designated as the Department of Pharmacology, Therapeutics and Toxicology in 2015. The Department is involved in the training of Pharmacology students from the Undergraduate level to the Doctoral level. The Department also trains Medical and Dental, Pharmacy, Physiology, Nursing, Radiography, Medical Laboratory Science and Physiotherapy students. Furthermore, the Department is actively involved in the teaching of Therapeutics to the Master of Public Health students, as well as students of the National Postgraduate Medical College and the West African Postgraduate Medical College.
On behalf of the Department, I wish you a rewarding and memorable learning experience.
History of the Department
The Department of Pharmacology, Therapeutics and Toxicology was established as a Division of the Department of Physiological Sciences headed by Professor F.O. Dosekun at the inception of the College of Medicine of the University of Lagos in 1962. It became a separate full-fledged Department in 1970 under the headship of Dr. L.I.L. Ndika and had since been involved in the training of Medical (MBBS) and Dental (BDS) students. The Department had also been teaching Pharmacology to students undergoing the Nursing, Post-Basic Nursing and Fellowship of the National Medical College programme.
In 1980, the Department started the B.Sc. (Hons.) degree programme in Pharmacology and taught the Pharmacology curriculum for Pharmacy and Physiology students. The Academic and Technical staff of the Department were also involved in the training of Science Laboratory Technology students of the University of Lagos then. The Department had academic staff strength of 4 in 1970 and this had varied at different times. Between 1980 and 1998, the Department was designated a World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Traditional Medicine. In 2015, the Department’s name was changed to Pharmacology, Therapeutics and Toxicology towards maximizing it potentials and meeting the needs of the society.
The Department currently has sixteen (16) Academic Staff, five (5) Technical Staff, and three (3) Administrative Staff. The current Head of Department is Professor Abidemi J. Akindele.
Academic Programs
Undergraduate Academic Programme
The department is involved in academic and research in the university as well as training of residents and provision of services to LUTH patients. The department teaches 200 and 300 level MBBS/BDS; 300 level Radiography,
300 level Nursing science. During the period under review the department carried out its statutory functions of research, teaching and examining students at the various levels. We have also continued to provide technical assistance, tissue processing and interpretation of histopathologic changes in laboratory animal tissues used for B.Sc. M.Sc. and Ph.D. research in the University of Lagos and beyond Currently we are involved in cutting edge collaborative research in the areas of colorectal cancer, cervical cancer, breast cancer and prostate cancer. A few of the publications arising from these include