History

History

Pharmacology & Toxicology have been taught at the University of Louisville School of Medicine since its founding in 1837. Professors of pharmacology and toxicology originally had titles such as "materia medica' or "medical chemistry". The Department was identified as "Physiology and Pharmacology" in 1909; "Pharmacology" in 1941 and its current name "Pharmacology and Toxicology" in 1978. The graduate program was established in 1954 and an NIH training grant was awarded in 2004.

Important dates in department history:

1798: Founding of the University of Louisville

1837: Founding of the School of Medicine; Pharmacology taught as "Materia Medica"

1909: Founding of the Department of Physiology & Pharmacology; Henry A. Cottell, MD appointed Department Chair

1914: Virgil E. Simpson, MD appointed Department Chair

1923: Henry G. Barbour, MD appointed Department Chair

1933: George E. Wakerlin, MD, PhD appointed Department Chair

1941: Founding of a separate Department of Pharmacology; Peter K. Knoefel, MD appointed Department Chair

1954: Founding of the pharmacology graduate program

1958: First PhD in pharmacology awarded to James W. Fisher

1969: Thomas D. Darby, PhD appointed Department Chair

1974: Edward A. Carr Jr., MD appointed Department Chair

1977: William J. Waddell, MD appointed Department Chair

1978: Department name and graduate program changed to Pharmacology and Toxicology

1982: Department hosts the joint fall meeting of the American Society for Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics and the Society of Toxicology.

1997: David W. Hein, PhD - appointed Department Chair

1998: University of Louisville bicentennial

2001: One hundredth graduate of the pharmacology and toxicology program

2004: NIH T32 predoctoral training grant awarded

2009: NIH T32 training grant renewed and expanded to include both predoctoral and postdoctoral fellowships

2009: Two hundredth graduate of the pharmacology and toxicology program

2011: NCI Cancer Education Program grant awarded

2014: PhD program partnership initiated with Wenzhou Medical University

2015: PhD program partnership initiated with Cairo University

2015: PhD program partnership initiated with Jilin University

2015: Department Administrative Office moved from 13th floor of Research Tower to 1st floor of Kosair Charities Clinical and Translational Research Building

2016: NIH T32 training grant renewed for additional five years 

2017: PhD program partnership initiated with Ain Shams University

2017:  NCI Cancer Education Program grant renewed for additional five years

2017:  Graduates of the pharmacology and toxicology program exceeds 300

2020:  University of Louisville Center for Integrative Environmental Health Sciences funded for five years

2021:  NIEHS T32 training grant renewed for additional five years

2024:  New non-thesis MS graduate program approved with concentration in pharmacology or toxicology

2025:  New interdisciplinary nanomedicine graduate program approved in partnership with Department of Bioengineering

2025:  First graduate of non-thesis MS program

Chairs of Pharmacology & Toxicology

1837-1849: Lunsford P. Yandell, Sr., MD, Professor/Chair of Chemistry 

1838-1849: Charles W. Short, MD, Professor of Materia Medica 

1849-1854: Benjamin Silliman Jr., MD, Professor/Chair of Medicinal Chemistry & Toxicology 

1852-1869: Lewis Rogers, MD, Professor of Materia Medica & Therapeutics

1854-1866: J. Lawrence Smith, MD , Professor/Chair of Chemical Physiology 

1866-1869: C. W. Wright, MD, Professor/Chair of Medical & Physiological Chemistry 

1869-1882: James W. Holland, MD, Professor/Chair of Medical Chemistry, Toxicology, & Materia Medica 

1884-1896: Henry A. Cottell, MD, Professor/Chair of Medical Chemistry

1896-1909: H. M. Goodman, MD, Professor/Chair of Medical Chemistry

1906-1914: Henry A. Cottell, MD, Professor and Chair, Department of Physiology & Pharmacology 

1914-1921: Virgil E. Simpson, MD, Professor of Materia Medica, Therapeutics, & Pharmacology

1923-1932: Henry G. Barbour, MD, Professor and Chair, Department of Physiology & Pharmacology 

1933-1939: George E. Wakerlin, MD, PhD  Professor and Chair, Department of Physiology & Pharmacology 

1941-1966: Peter K. Knoefel, MD, Professor and Chair, Department of Pharmacology 

1967-1968: Charles H. Jarboe, PhD, Associate Professor and Acting Chair, Department of Pharmacology 

1969-1973: Thomas D. Darby, PhD, Professor and Chair, Department of Pharmacology 

1974-1976: Edward A. Carr, Jr. MD, Professor and Chair, Department of Pharmacology 

1977-1997: William J. Waddell, MD, Professor and Chair, Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology 

1997-Current David W. Hein, PhD  Peter K. Knoefel Professor and Chair, Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology