http://www.vpt.uzh.ch/index.html
About the Institute
A strong commitment to basic research and an offensive approach to clinical pharmacology and toxicology services characterize the general philosophy of our Institute. We don' t pay much respect to the differences between pharmacology and toxicology, as an interdisciplinary approach is adopted to deal from both perspectives with the same xenobiotics.
Research
We have a long-standing interest in the pathways that orchestrate the response of living cells to DNA damage, oxidative stress and cytotoxic insults. Towards these goals, we study the molecular mechanisms of DNA repair pathways that have a direct impact on risk assessment, primarily in food and environmental toxicology. These studies are also directed to the development of new therapeutic strategies against cancer. Another line of research addresses the function of enzymes of poly(ADP-ribose) metabolism and their involvement in cell death signaling. The poly ADP-ribosylation system is a target for experimental pharmacotherapy in diabetes, cancer, stroke and inflammation.
Teaching
We provide research-based and problem-oriented teaching in multiple areas of pharmacology and toxicology. Lectures as well as interactive seminars and courses are offered at the undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate level. Major topics are the pharmacological basis of therapeutics, general toxicology, clinical veterinary pharmacology and toxicology, food toxicology, genome stability, mutagenesis and carcinogenesis.
Services
The centerpiece of our consulting service is a computer-aided decision support system for pharmacotherapy and clinical toxicology (CliniPharm/CliniTox). The goal of CliniPharm is to simulate all possible outcomes of a particular pharmacotherapy (e.g. drug action in disease states, effective organ concentrations, organ-specific reactions, untoward effects, drug interactions, therapeutic failures etc.) based on the available scientific knowledge. This decision support system also helps practitioners to design custom-tailored therapies in problem patients (e.g. dose regimen adjustments in renal or cardiac insufficiencies). CliniTox provides a computerized counseling service for the management of poisonings in animals.
