Key Dates
Pharmacology and toxicology have been taught at the University of Louisville School of Medicine since its inception in 1837. Originally, pharmacology and toxicology were taught in the curriculum as "materia medica" or "medical chemistry" by professors who held the title of professor and/or chair of these disciplines.The Department of Physiology and Pharmacology was initiated in 1909. The independent Department of Pharmacology was approved in 1941 and in 1954 the establishment of the graduate training program was approved. In 1978 the department name and graduate program were changed to Pharmacology and Toxicology. An NIEHS-funded predoctoral training program was initiated in 2004. Over 200 graduates have completed our program. Key historical dates and a listing of chairs beginning in 1837 and extending to the present is provided below. Key events 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 C. 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 predoctoral training grant awarded
2009: Two hundredth graduate of the pharmacology and toxicology program
2009: NIH training grant renewed and expanded to include both predoctoral and postdoctoral fellowships
2011: NCI Cancer Education Program grant awarded.
