The departmental office as well as teaching and clinical research facilities are located on the second and third floors of the Biomedicum 2 C building, and laboratory facilities are on the second floor of Biomedicum 1. The Department cooperates closely with HUSLAB and the Poison Information Centre, and participates in expert duties related to pharmacogenetic studies and the determination of drug concentrations. It also provides consultation services for the pharmacological treatment operations conducted by HUS.
Each year, the discipline of clinical pharmacology provides roughly 7–8 credits worth of basic education in the degree programmes in medicine and dentistry. Among other topics, the teaching covers individual factors affecting pharmacotherapies, such as associated diseases, drug interaction and pharmacogenetics, as well as the application of pharmacological knowledge in the planning and implementation of pharmacotherapies for the most common diseases.
Teaching in clinical pharmacology takes place at the clinical stage in the third, fourth and sixth years of study and includes separate courses and integrated instruction. The department also provides instruction to master’s students in translational medicine and contributes to the Faculty’s other education provision. The unit also hosts advanced research projects, for example, in connection with clinical drug trials carried out under its direction. Advanced projects can also result in doctoral research and postgraduate education.
Specialist training in clinical pharmacology and pharmacotherapy includes, in addition to health centre service, a core training period in drug-intensive clinical fields (roughly two years) and specialisation training in clinical pharmacology and pharmacotherapy in a training post at the unit (roughly three years). The training is competence-based and carried out under the regular supervision of specialists in the field.
The unit’s research groups are active in the Individualized Drug Therapy Research Program. The research conducted at the Department of Clinical Pharmacology focuses on individual factors affecting pharmacotherapies, pharmacokinetics and adverse drug effects. The methods used include clinical drug trials, laboratory testing, pharmaceutical analytics, gene analyses, computer modelling and registry-based studies. Research is often translational in nature, with the following main themes:
The department’s research on drug interaction and pharmacogenetics as well as drug metabolism and transport proteins is at the international top of the field. In addition to projects targeted at doctoral theses, the department also offers advanced projects.
Doctoral researchers at the department primarily complete their doctoral studies in the Doctoral Programme in Clinical Research and the Doctoral Programme in Drug Research. Supervisors and researchers regularly participate in the activities of international researcher networks. The department organises postgraduate courses, such as the clinical drug trial course organised annually or every other year.
professor Janne Backman
janne.backman@helsinki.fi
PO Box 20 (Tukholmankatu 8 C)
00014 University of Helsinki
PO Box 20 (Tukholmankatu 8 C)
00014 University of Helsinki