Research Facilities
As a graduate student at USP you will have access to state-of-the-art-research facilities, including the McNeil Science and Technology Center, West Center for Computational Chemistry and Drug Design, as well as specialized laboratory facilities for research in chemical, biological, and pharmaceutical sciences.
McNeil Science and Technology Center
Opened in 2006, this 78,000 square foot building is home to the departments of Biological Sciences, Bioinformatics, and Math/Physics/Computer Science.
Features of this cutting-edge facility include:
- Bioinformatics classrooms and laboratories that are equipped with Apple iMac Core Duo workstations loaded with specialized and general-use software
- A Mac Pro Quad, and over 10 terabytes of total local memory storage that power the bioinformatics programs' computational needs.
- Access to confocal microscopy, 2-dimensional micro-HPLC, and liquid chromatograph/mass spectrometry devices that can identify individual molecules and cellular events
- Teaching laboratories located on the same floor as research laboratories, enabling faculty to integrate cutting-edge technology into class exercise.
Laboratories
The McNeil Research Center includes well-equipped laboratories and an experimental greenhouse for graduate study and research in pharmaceutics, chemistry, biochemistry, and pharmacognosy.
The Pharmaceutical Development and Manufacturing Laboratory in Griffith Hall is among the most complete of any college of pharmaceutical sciences.
The Pharmacology/Toxicology Center houses modern laboratories and AAALAC-accredited animal-care facilities for instruction and research in pharmacology and toxicology.
Throughout the campus there are special laboratories equipped with instrumentation for:
- Cell biology
- Fluorescence DNA sequencing
- Receptor binding
- High-pressure liquid chromatography
- Mass spectrometry
- Capillary electrophoresis
- Kinetics
- Rheology
- Radioisotope methodology
- Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy studies (proton, carbon, fluorine, phosphorus, and other commonly used techniques).
The Center for Advanced Pharmacy Studies (CAPS) provides a unique learning environment for students in a variety of majors, such as health policy students conducting health services research.
West Center for Computational Chemistry and Drug Design
Known as "The West Center" (or WC3D2, for short) is focused on the application of computational methods to chemical and biological problems, as well as on the development of more powerful computational tools to improve the ability of these methods to produce real world answers.
Beowulf Clusters provide the primary computational power available to faculty and students in The West Center. Currently, three Beowulf clusters are available, including the original cluster, but now completely rebuilt as a 20-processor cluster in 2004, together with a 32-processor cluster. Our newest and largest cluster (128-processors) came online in August 2005 as a result of a grant from the NSF for our proposal to the MRI program. All the Beowulf Clusters are now grouped together in a recently renovated machine room located in Alumni Hall in addition to the tonga server and an Apple X-Serve computer cluster.
A variety of sophisticated software packages are available for use in The West Center, such as Oracle, Gaussian 98 and AMBER, which allow database management of both genetic and chemical databases, as well as greatly improved computer modeling capabilities. The Center also contains a variety of stand-alone computers, including two Silicon Graphics workstations, a combination of both PC and Macintosh computers and a 5 terabyte robotic tape back-up system.
West Center Post-doctoral and Graduate Student Fellowships
The West Center offers one or more fellowships for the support of post-doctoral and graduate students to carry out research on problems in computational chemistry of interest to The West Center faculty. Post-doctoral students,may also be able to combine their research activities with teaching opportunities, either through the short courses program, or as instructors in regular course offerings, such as our Computer-Aided Drug Design course (CH 448/748). Applicants with the appropriate background and interest in such an appointment should review the research activities described on individual faculty web pages, and then contact Dr. Preston Moore for more information.
To learn more about the West Center's facilities, faculty, and short courses in computational chemistry, visit The West Center website.
Library Resources
USP's Library provides access to the world's research literature through its 7,000 print and electronic journals and its specialized collection of 85,000 print volumes.
Major scientific databases are available both on and off campus. Graduate students also receive free and unlimited interlibrary loans from libraries around the world.
