Welcome to the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology

The Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Otago is the oldest pharmacology department in New Zealand and is located on the 2nd and 3rd Floors of the Adams Building, adjacent to the School of Pharmacy and the National Poison Center. The department also has several new research laboratories in the Wellcome Building. Administratively, the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology is one of the five departments comprising the Otago School of Medical Sciences (along with the Departments of Physiology, Anatomy and Structural Biology Biochemistry and Microbiology), within the Faculty of Medicine in the Division of Health Sciences.

The role of the Otago Medical School is to teach pre-clinical and clinical medical students, but it also contributes significantly to the teaching of Science, Dental, Pharmacy, Physiotherapy and Medical Laboratory Science students. Most of the postgraduates within the School and within the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology are graduates in Science.

Much of the Department's teaching is within the Division of Sciences and has close connections with Departments such as Chemistry, Psychology and Zoology, as well as the other Departments within the Faculty of Medicine and the School of Pharmacy.