Department of Pharmacognosy and Pharmaceutical Chemistry

The Department of Pharmacognosy and Pharmaceutical Chemistry serves as a core academic pillar within the College of Pharmacy, actively contributing to the college's and Taibah University's overall vision and mission. The department offers mandatory courses within the Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) programs, including: Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Analytical Chemistry, and Pharmacognosy. Additionally, the department offers four specialized elective courses: Drug Design and Discovery, Advanced Instrumental Analysis, Bioanalysis, and Biotransformation.

Pharmacognosy courses provide both theoretical foundations and practical applications of plants as primary sources of medicinal phytochemicals. Students engage in key areas including the extraction and chemical characterization of natural compounds from plants and other biological sources, advanced isolation techniques, therapeutic potential, quality evaluation, biological activity, and medicinal efficacy.

The department is responsible for teaching specialized courses in Pharmaceutical Chemistry, which cover essential aspects such as synthesis techniques, drug discovery and development, structure-activity relationship studies SAR, and the advanced equipment used in these processes. Furthermore, it focuses on studying the chemical and physical properties of pharmaceutical compounds and analyzing their chemical structure. It also addresses the developmental aspect of pharmaceutical compounds using molecular modeling programs and explores the impact of molecular modifications on the potency, toxicity, mechanisms, and biological effects of pharmaceutical compounds.

The department is also concerned with teaching the fundamentals of Pharmaceutical Analytical Chemistry, encompassing all methods used for the qualitative identification and quantitative estimation of drugs. This includes all titrimetric and instrumental methods, teaching the basics of separation and quantification of drug mixtures, whether in their pharmaceutical preparations or through drug monitoring in biological fluids using titrimetric and instrumental methods, and qualifying students to use these techniques. The department also teaches the course Pharmaceutical Technology 3 in collaboration with the Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology, and it teaches the quality control of pharmaceutical preparations to ensure their compliance with the specifications outlined in pharmacopoeias.

The Department of Pharmacognosy and Pharmaceutical Chemistry actively contributes to numerous research activities and projects. Faculty members participate in projects supported by major entities, such as the Deanship of Scientific Research and the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, aiming to achieve the College's research leadership locally and regionally, in line with its vision.

The department dynamically participates in community service through two main avenues: first, by providing scientific and technical expertise and consultations to government and private sectors related to health and the pharmaceutical industry throughout the year. Second, by supporting the efforts of student activities in implementing educational and awareness programs aimed at serving the residents and visitors of Medina.