The PhD program in MNPC offers students challenging opportunities to do fundamental drug-related research in the basic chemical and biological sciences. Our program involves an interdisciplinary plan of coursework and research spanning many aspects of the subdisciplines of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmacology with a common theme of drug discovery. This includes extensive laboratory research aimed at testing a novel hypothesis, which is written and defended as a PhD thesis. Contemporary research geared toward drug discovery and design is the cornerstone of graduate study in Medicinal and Natural Products Chemistry.