The Department of Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics conducts research in several scientific fields. Initially, following the department's establishment, the leading research topic was the pharmacobiochemistry of biogenic amines. The first laboratory for biochemical pharmacology in Bulgaria was founded here, where methods for determining catecholamines and histamine in biological materials were developed and implemented and methodology for working with isolated organs was established. Many Bulgarian pharmaceutical products were studied. Biologically active substances of plant origin and semi-synthetic compounds based on the pharmacophore principle were isolated and/or synthesized and pharmacologically/toxicologically characterized.
Subsequent research directions developed as a natural extension of traditional ones: determination of the level of histamine as a clinical-pharmacological diagnostic and prognostic marker in hematological diseases; conduction of neuropsychopharmacological and other studies on histaminergic and serotonergic neurotransmission; studying the effects of calcium antagonists and histaminergic blockers on isolated organs.
In recent years, the most intensive research has focused on the psychopharmacological, antioxidant, and organ-protective activities of biologically active substances – mainly polyphenols, plant extracts and natural products – by using experimental models of diseases, organ toxicity, and behavioral disorders. Other research areas include: studies of the pleiotropic effects of vitamin K in experimental and clinical conditions; drug utilization and pharmacoeconomics; potentially clinically significant drug interactions.
The research activities are supported by numerous projects funded by the Science Fund of the Medical University of Varna and the National Science Fund of the Ministry of Education and Science. Undergraduate and doctoral students are actively involved in these projects.
Currently, the department's main research areas are:
- Studies on the effects of biologically active substances of plant origin in various experimental pharmacological models using psychopharmacological and pharmacobiochemical methods
- Studies on the effects of fat-soluble vitamins in experimental pharmacological models
- Drug utilization and pharmacoeconomics
- Drug interactions
In the last 10 years, the Department has participated in the implementation of 13 research projects. Scientific collaboration has been established with related departments at other medical universities in the country, with the Institute of Neurobiology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, and with the Department of Biochemistry in Rijeka, Croatia. Particularly close cooperation exists with other departments at the Medical University of Varna, such as the Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Medicine and Nutrigenomics and the Department of General and Clinical Pathology, Forensic Medicine and Deontology.
The department has been a partner in projects under the TEMPUS and CEEPUS programs. Many members of the academic staff have specialized abroad and delivered lectures at foreign universities under these programs, as well as under the Erasmus+ program and Project No. BG05M2OP001-2.016-0025 “Creating a Multidisciplinary Educational Environment for the Development of Professionals with Integrated Competencies in the Field of Biomedicine and Healthcare."
More than 20 PhD theses and 2 Doctor of Science dissertations have been defended within the department.
Since 2010, the department has held program accreditation for training doctoral students in the PhD program “Pharmacology (incl. Pharmacokinetics and cChemotherapy)".
