About the Department

The GW Pharmacology Department came to national prominence under the leadership first of Dr. Paul K. Smith, and later Dr. H. George Mandel, who chaired the department for a record 36 years. Dr. Mandel mentored the graduate studies of Julius Axelrod, who received his Ph.D. in Pharmacology from GW in 1955, going on to receive the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1970. Dr. Vincent Chiappinelli became chair in 1997, and has worked to further expand the Department’s strengths in neuropharmacological, and cardiovascular and cancer research, while continuing the long tradition of excellent teaching to professional, graduate and undergraduate students. In 2004 we merged with Physiology to become the Department of Pharmacology and Physiology.