Teaching

Toxicology and Pharmacology lies at a cross-road between medicine and natural sciences.

Toxicology is been referred to as the science of poisons.Toxicology focuses on long-term adverse effects and on interactions with the environment. Specifically, Toxicology wants to understand the adverse effects of chemical and physical agents on living organisms. Thus, Toxicology investigates symptoms, mechanisms, treatments and detection of poisoning.

In contrast, Pharmacology means to understand how a given drug acts in the body (pharmacodynamics) and how it is absorbed, distributed and disposed (pharmacokinetics). Here, we teach appropriate drug therapy based on correct diagnosis, integration of all biological, psychological, and social factors that influence the course of the disease and the response of patients to the treatment.
Teaching of Toxicology and Pharmacology is based on close multidisciplinary collaborations with the Institute of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology (CHARITÉ - UNIVERSITY MEDICINE, BERLIN), the Gesellschaft für Toxikologie in der Deutschen Gesellschaft für experimentelle und klinische Pharmakologie und Toxikologie (DGPT), the Masterstudiengang Toxikologie (Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin in Kooperation mit der Universität Potsdam), and the „weiterbildenden Masterstudiengang Consumer Health Care“ (CHARITÉ - UNIVERSITY MEDICINE, BERLIN).
A further aim of the group is to inspire pupils for the natural sciences. Thus, many academics of the FU Berlin iniated the project NatLab, where self-experimentation is the center of the different classes to give them an insight into the university atmosphere.