Doctoral Programme on Drug Research and Diagnostics (DRD)

DRD seeks to be a key player in pharmaceutical and diagnostics education in Finland, and it is effectively networked with other actors in the field. DRD operates in collaboration with the doctoral programmes in drug research at the University of Helsinki and the University of Eastern Finland, forming a national network (FinPharmaNet) with international partnerships, including the Karolinska Institute and other similar programmes in the Baltic Sea region. The program also has diverse connections with pharmaceutical and diagnostics companies in Finland, as well as with The Wellbeing services county of Southwest Finland (Varha). Overall, this network-based approach aims to the comprehensive coverage of the entire field of drug and diagnostics research.

Doctoral researchers in the DRD programme conduct their research as part of research groups at the University of Turku. The university hosts numerous high-level research groups that focus on identifying and validating new drug targets, developing drug molecules targeting these, creating diagnostic methods to measure their effects, and related methods in drug development. Following research on the identification and validation of drug targets, further studies related to drug development typically include the characterization of the pharmacological properties of new drug molecules, investigations of their pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties, toxicological assessments, and clinical pharmacology studies. The programme also includes research related to the development of in vitro diagnostic methods and other monitoring techniques used in healthcare, ranging from identifying biomarkers to the research on reporter technologies and bioaffinity reagents as well as to the development and validation of assay concepts and systems. Diagnostic pharmaceuticals, such as drug molecules used as markers, must by law be studied in the same way as therapeutic drugs, and their research is also part of the doctoral programme.

DRD training comprehensively covers all phases of research, from defining research objectives to identifying drug targets and diagnostic biomarkers, and extends to the development of pharmaceutical and diagnostic products. The goal is to educate doctoral researchers into specialized experts in these areas, while also providing them with a broader understanding of the field, The development of medicines and diagnostic products, as well as drug research itself, are strictly regulated by national and international guidelines, and introduction to such regulations is part of the DRD curriculum.

DRD also offers a research training path (Industrial PhD, iPhD), where research and training are conducted partly or mainly as part of a company's research activities. However, research training provided by the university, as well as research periods within university research groups, is a key component of the Industrial PhD path. The programme also provides further education for Master's graduates working primarily in industry, tailored to the needs of companies. 

 Research Areas:

• Target identification and validation
• Medicinal chemistry
• Translational disease models
• Development and preclinical testing of novel drug molecules
• Clinical drug research
• Pharmacoepidemiology
• Development of diagnostic reagents
• Diagnostic assay methods
• Diagnostic biomarker validation

Contact

Director Matti Poutanen

Vice director Urpo Lamminmäki

Coordinator, PhD Marja Peura, mahepeu(at)utu.fi