Combining Strengths in Target Discovery and Therapeutic Development in Physiology, Neuroscience and Cancer Research
The Department of Pharmacology and Physiology aligns the basic science research efforts of pharmacology and physiology, with a strong emphasis on the development of new drug therapies.
The Department hosts three divisions spanning Cancer Therapeutics, Molecular Physiology, and Neuropharmacology, creating additional opportunities for research partnerships across current UMSOM Centers, Institutes, and the new BioPark at 4MLK.
Department News & Events

Monday, July 14, 2025
UM School of Medicine Team Wins NIH TARGETED Challenge with Brain Genome Editing Technology
A team of researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) recently won a $250,000 prize from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to improve technologies for delivering genome editing tools to targeted cells in the body. They were one of four winners in a competition after successfully demonstrating a new technique to deliver genome editing biotechnology across the blood-brain barrier to brain cells in preclinical models.


Tuesday, July 08, 2025
Bolni Nagalo, PhD, Appointed Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Physiology at UMSOM
Welcome Bolni Nagalo, PhD to the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) and the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center (UMGCCC)

Tuesday, July 01, 2025
UM School of Medicine Confocal Core Facility Offers Super-Resolution Microscopy to Enhance Imaging of Subcellular Structures
The UMSOM Confocal Microscopy Core facility is now offering researchers access to a state-of-the-art STED microscope that provides super-resolution imaging capabilities. It is the latest addition of an Abberior Facility Line STED microscope.