Department of Pharmacology | UC Davis Health

Welcome to the Department of Pharmacology in the UC Davis School of Medicine. The Department comprises a dynamic group of faculty, researchers and students from diverse backgrounds undertaking investigations to reveal biological mechanisms that will ultimately lead to discovery of novel understanding of physiological and pathological mechanisms, identification of potential therapeutic targets and development of new strategies for a variety of human diseases.

Learn more about our department

The Third Annual Pharmacology Department Retreat

The Pharmacology Department recently held their Third Annual Department Retreat at the John Natsoulas Center for the Arts in Davis. What a successful event and a wonderful day of community, science, and fun activities, surrounded by art and creativity.

A special thanks to the organizing committee, Adam Wilder, Ruben Berumen, Zsuzsanna Magyar, Christopher Ko, Angie Gelli, and Deborah Crunk, and to Professor Elva Diaz for hosting this wonderful event!

Thank you as well to our Capstone session speaker, Aaron Cheesman in the Office of Strategic Communications.

We look forward to planning our next event in 2027!

Pharmacology Undergrads in Chao-Yin Chen’s Lab present at Scientific Conferences

The Department is proud to recognize Professor Chen’s Undergraduate Students who recently presented at the 37th Annual Undergraduate Research Scholarship and Creative Activities Conference and the 2026 American Physiological Society Summit.

These events provide undergraduate students with an excellent opportunity to present their work in a rigorous yet supportive scientific environment. We congratulate them all on their research efforts!

2026 Undergraduate Research Conference

Speaker: Alyssa Yomogida
Oral Presentation Title: "Effects of acute vs. chronic stress and TRAP on cardiac function: sex matters"

Speaker: Malavika Vutukuru
Oral Presentation Title: "Effects of TRAP on cardiovascular response to acute restraint stress"

Speaker: Ayaka Suganuma
Oral Presentation Title: "Statistical strategies in multistage analysis: high-dimensional biological data across physiological systems"

2026 APS Summit

Speaker: Jaime Leon (Jr. Specialist)
2 Oral Presentations: "Traffic-Related Air Pollution Amplifies Cardiovascular Responses to Stress Despite Normalized Inflammation in Rats"

Speaker: Tiya Sharma (Undergraduate Student)
Poster Title: "TRAP, stress, and sex: from inflammatory response to cardiovascular regulation in rats"