The discovery, development and translation of therapeutics is crucial for the advancement of clinical practice. Excitingly, innovative therapeutic strategies continue to emerge as the era of precision medicine becomes a clinical reality and we, the Therapeutics and Pharmacology (TAP) Program at the MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, are proud to be at the forefront of expanding the boundaries of therapeutic knowledge.

Our mission is to serve as a network for scientists-in-training that promotes the communication, application and translation of emerging concepts that fall under the broad spectrum of therapeutics. These concepts include (i) exploiting vulnerabilities in cancer biology, (ii) modulating/disrupting genetic & epigenetic mechanisms, (iii) developing immunotherapies, (iv) applying computational and medicinal chemistry strategies for rational drug design, (v) harnessing nuclear medicine for drug development – to name a few. Our program is uniquely designed to potentiate students from a variety of backgrounds with diverse career goals that are interested in translational research. As a result, our students and faculty are particularly focused on taking discoveries across all areas of the basic sciences from “bench-to-bedside.” To achieve this, our students receive a solid background in the principles and mechanisms of therapeutics along with hands-on training in the laboratory of their choice. Importantly, TAP is designed to center around the objectives of the trainee by allowing coursework customization and facilitating access to industry internships.

Overall, we are a tight-knit community with student-led initiatives to socialize and collaborate with peers and scholars across a wide variety of disciplines. Furthermore, we provide students valuable resources for professional development and finding careers in their desired fields. With our unique emphasis on translational research, we train students to be prime candidates for positions within academia, government, pharmaceutical industries, and intellectual property protection. The benefits of our training platform are reflected in our proud alumni who have gone on to pursue successful careers in sectors ranging from biotechnology to regulatory affairs.