Education Overview
Within the master's study program Pharmacy, the department provides subjects characterizing the sources of herbal drugs, their use in therapy, toxicity, the technology of their acquisition and their use as phytopharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals. The basic introductory preparatory discipline is Pharmaceutical Botany I, II, followed by the profile subject Pharmacognosy I, II, ending with a continuous state exam. The following subjects are also taught in this study program: Toxicity of natural substances, Phytochemical methods, Biotechnology, Production of medicinal plants, Phytopharmaceuticals and Technology of natural products. In the study program Laboratory Diagnostics in Health Care, the department provides teaching of optional subjects: Drugs of natural origin, in cooperation with the Department of Analytical Chemistry; and participates in the teaching of following subjects: Advanced methods of forensic analysis and Advanced techniques of analysis of natural products. At the department, students are working on bachelor's and master's theses, which deal mainly with the isolation of secondary metabolites of plants and their biological activity. More ...
Research Overview
The department's research focuses primarily on the study of plant constituents (secondary metabolites) and their biological activity. Various chromatographic methods are used for the isolation of secondary metabolites. The other part of the research is monitoring the metabolism processes of metabolites in plant tissues (tissue cultures). The attention of research connected to biological activity is focused on influencing processes in neurodegenerative, oncological, cardiovascular and microbial diseases. The research also focuses on preparing semi-synthetic derivatives of natural substances (or their total synthesis) and subsequent biological activity screening. In cooperation with the Center of Biomedical research molecular docking studies are used to optimize the structure of derivatives. More ...