Historical review
The Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology was founded in Vienna in 1974 under the directorship of Univ. Prof. Peter Heistracher, originally entitled as Institute of Pharmacodynamics and Toxicology, located at Währingerstraße 13a, later on the institute moved to Währingerstraße 17. The foundation occurred in consequence of a new curriculum for the study of Pharmacy which demanded to stress education in pharmacology. In 1992 the institute was renamed to Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology and moved 1994 to the Pharmacy Center in Althanstraße 14. After emeritus status was given to Prof. Heistracher the institute was temporary led by Univ. Prof. Rosa Lemmens-Gruber. In 2003 Univ. Prof. Steffen Hering was appointed as full Professor of Pharmacology, he was the head of the Department from 2003 until 2019. Following the institute was temporary led by Prof. Oskar Hoffmann. In March 2021 Univ. Prof. Manuela Schmidt will be responsible for the management of the Division of Pharmacology and Toxicology. Her main research topic is the systems biology of pain, find more information here: Systems Biology of Pain