DEPARTMENT OF BASİC PHARMACEUTİCAL SCİENCES

Analytical Chemistry Department

Analytical Chemistry is a field of science frequently used in natural sciences, industry, and health sciences. It fosters and develops analytical thinking, a broad perspective, problem-solving, and creative thinking. In its simplest definition, this branch of science is aimed at elucidating the structure of matter both qualitatively and quantitatively. Alongside classical analytical techniques, instrumental analysis techniques play a significant role in advancing science today. With the rapid development of technology, instrumental devices are also evolving rapidly, becoming more accessible and significantly accelerating scientific research in analytical chemistry. Research in analytical chemistry, a universal field of science illuminating interdisciplinary studies in almost all areas of natural and health sciences, is gaining increasing importance daily.

The research areas of analytical chemistry include developing and applying chromatographic analysis methods, atomic and molecular spectroscopic analysis methods, electrochemical analysis methods, analytical method validations, drug analyses from pharmaceutical preparations and various biological materials, determining the structure and quantity of active substances obtained from natural products, and developing new methods for determining the quantity and structure of drug raw materials.

Biochemistry Department

Biochemistry is a scientific field that examines chemical reactions occurring in organisms, forming the foundation of health and life sciences. It encompasses traditional disciplines such as molecular biology, cell biology, and enzyme biology, as well as newer scientific fields like genomics, proteomics, and bioinformatics. The study of changes in biomolecules (RNA, DNA, proteins) observed in normal and pathological conditions is a fundamental topic in biochemistry. Therefore, biochemistry plays a crucial role in identifying the causes of diseases and designing drugs to address these causes and determining their target sites.

Since the Faculty of Pharmacy was established, the Biochemistry Department has been actively engaged in education and research activities under the Department of Basic Pharmaceutical Sciences. The Department's research interests include cancer, microRNA, atherosclerosis, enzyme activity and inhibition studies, oxidative stress, and enzyme immunoassays (such as ELISA or EIA). The Department's laboratory employs various experimental systems to elucidate the cellular and molecular mechanisms of biological processes and their associations with diseases. In undergraduate courses conducted by the Department, students receive theoretical and practical fundamental biochemistry education essential for understanding physiological and pathological events and drug effects. Additionally, students are introduced to biochemical tests performed on biological materials for diagnosing and monitoring diseases.

Pharmaceutical Basic Sciences Department

In the Basic Pharmaceutical Sciences Department, studies are conducted using fundamental molecular biology techniques, including in vitro viability, cytotoxicity, and genotoxicity tests to determine the biological effects of nanomaterials, various experimental model applications in animal studies, histopathological evaluations of active substances' acute effects in vivo, gene expression studies, cell interactions, immunohistochemical techniques to detect biomolecules, interactions between cells and the extracellular matrix, the effects of cell surface oligosaccharides on cancer cell behavior, elucidation of programmed cell death mechanisms, and mesenchymal stem cell studies.

Current priority research areas include cellular technologies, recombinant protein and antibody production in mammalian cells, and developing biological materials with "biotechnological drug raw material" potential. Goals include identifying biological resources, obtaining beneficial products from these resources, determining their effects through in vivo and in vitro experimental models, and applying genomics and proteomics.

Pharmaceutical Botany Department

Trakya University Faculty of Pharmacy was established on October 24, 2011. The Pharmaceutical Botany Department was founded with the establishment of the faculty and began education in February 2014.

The Department's objectives include education, research, and establishing and developing a herbarium, a vital unit of botanical science. In education, it aims to provide knowledge of the plant diversity in Turkey and worldwide, particularly focusing on medicinal plants and those used by the public. The process begins with collecting, identifying, drying, and preserving plants, which form the initial steps in converting raw plant materials into drugs. Achieving these steps requires extensive knowledge.

In research, field studies are prioritized. Plants for research must be collected from the field and correctly identified. Whenever possible, herbarium samples are not preferred for research but are used for control purposes. As the faculty is in its developmental phase, efforts are ongoing to establish the herbarium according to international standards through acquired projects. Herbariums are places that provide opportunities for research in all branches of botany and throughout all seasons. Additionally, when introducing a new species to the world, it is mandatory to declare that the type specimen or isotypes are located in an international herbarium. Our goal is to grant the herbarium international status as soon as possible.

Pharmaceutical Microbiology Department

 Pharmaceutical Microbiology topics include the structure, identification, reproduction, and reproduction control of microorganisms; microorganisms causing infections; mechanisms of action of antimicrobial agents; resistance mechanisms to antimicrobial agents; pharmaceutical products derived from microorganisms; and the immune system.

The Pharmaceutical Microbiology Department conducts research on the microbiological analyses of pharmaceutical products, determining microorganism limits specified in pharmacopoeias and performing microbiological controls before and after product manufacturing. The Department also explores sterilization and disinfection methods and monitors these methods, mechanisms of action and resistance mechanisms of antimicrobial agents, antibiotic-microorganism-host relationships, determining the antimicrobial effects and immunomodulatory activities of drug precursors, and using microorganisms in the development of new drugs and pharmaceutical products.