The Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry pursues science at the interface of chemistry and pharmacology and is committed to the study of small molecules and their pharmacological effects on biological systems. Pharmaceutical Chemistry encompasses the disciplines of medicinal chemistry, as well as pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical drug analysis and biotechnology. It is an interdisciplinary science involving the study of compounds with potential therapeutic effects in living organisms. It approaches important biological and health-related problems through the applications of fundamental principles of organic chemistry, natural products chemistry, analytical chemistry, biochemistry, molecular modeling, and molecular pharmacology. Pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical drug analysis deal with quality assurance and control, analysis of drugs and metabolites.