The Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry is primarily involved in providing a strong foundation in fundamentals of different areas of chemistry viz. Organic chemistry, Inorganic chemistry, Biochemistry, Medicinal chemistry and Natural product chemistry.
The department consists of 11 permanent teaching faculties with a strong desire for academic excellence, including 3 Professors, 4 Associate Professors and 4 Assistant Professor, of which 3 holds PhD Degree. To support teaching faculties there are seven laboratory assistants. The faculties of the department are engaged in various research through international collaborations taking up the emerging challenges in health care.
The department has identified core areas of research mainly in medicinal chemistry in the fields of cancer, diabetes, inflammation and chemotherapy of microbial diseases. The prime motto of our research is to identify a lead molecule either of synthetic or natural origin and to optimize the lead to achieve desirable pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic properties. The methods to identify the lead applied in our department includes design, synthesis, SAR, characterization and screening of novel organic molecules using traditional as well as cutting edge technologies like high throughput screening and molecular modeling. Lead optimization is performed using computational methods.
The department is continuously updated every year. Updation includes the establishment of an enzyme assay and screening facility, the upgrade of computers in the CADD laboratory, and the upgrade of software in the “Centre for Experimental Drug Design and Development” lab. We also established the provisions to conduct experiments in an inert atmosphere and purchased instruments like a microcentrifuge, vortex mixture, melting point apparatus, deep freezer, and enzyme assay kit.
The department has access to UV-Visible, Attenuated Total Reflection-Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR), Mono-wave synthesizer, Rotary Flash evaporators, Micro plate Photometer, Microplate Washer, Micro plate incubation shaker, Fume hoods, Digital melting point apparatus, Vortex mixer, Rota mantles, digital hot tops and relevant instruments to give firsthand experience to the students. the results of these researches have been published in international scientific journals with good impact factors.
Most of the faculties and students presents their research works in various seminars and conferences and secure prizes. The department is actively mentoring the students for participating in various Innovation programmes across the countries and three projects have been selected for the district-level competition in the Young Innovation Programme organized by Govt. of Kerala.