The Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy (DKICP) at the University of Hawaii at Hilo offers a four-year Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) program in a supportive and culturally diverse environment.  Student pharmacists will embrace unique opportunities in a rural community that embodies the Aloha Spirit.  The construction for DKICP's permanent building is underway and is expected to be completed in 2019.

Faculty

The faculty is comprised of leaders in industry, natural products research, complementary medicine and rural health care initiatives.  Click here to learn more about the background and diverse research interests of each faculty member; click on the icon to the right of their name.

Tuition and Other Financial Information

Tuition
Tuition for the 2020 – 2021 school year is $24,096 per year for Hawaii residents and $41,040 per year for out-of-state residents.  Additional fees for student publications, student activities, student association, campus center, media broadcasting, student health, and student life center are approximately $450/year. Click here to read more about tuition and fees.

Scholarships
The purpose of scholarships is to recognize and reward students who have demonstrated outstanding academic performance and have shown a commitment to leadership and community activities within the College. Many awards also consider financial need. Click here for more information on the current scholarships available.

Financial Aid
Financial aid is available to students who qualify.  Click here for more information on financial aid. 

Student Organizations

The DKICP student organizations are active and committed to leadership, community service and improving the health of the community. From raising money for the American Cancer Society to organizing health fairs in remote areas to teaching tobacco education in the local public schools, the DKICP PharmD students are creating a positive impact in the lives of Hawaii’s residents. Click here for more information.

DKICP student pharmacists are getting national recognition!
The DKICP Pacific Island Mobile Screening Clinic was recognized by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) as one of four recipients in the nation to receive the 2013 Student Community Engaged Service Award. The award is “intended to encourage student pharmacists and faculty to design and build programs of community-engaged service learning, delivering consumer education about medication use, expanding access to affordable medications and improving public health.”

Other Information

The Student Life Center on campus has an Olympic-sized pool, a cardio and weight room, and also offers classes like yoga and Zumba.

Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences Program 

Using the extraordinary intellectual, biological, physical, and cultural diversity of its geographic region as a focus of investigation and study, the Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy (DKICP) at the University of Hawaii at Hilo is proud to offer a Ph.D. degree program in the Pharmaceutical Sciences. 

This program, which was inaugurated in 2011, provides graduate training in the pharmaceutical sciences, including medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, pharmaceutics, and pharmacognosy.  The college has strong research programs in "Cancer Biology" and "Natural Product Drug Discovery." The Ph.D. degree is aimed at students with B.S., M.S., or Pharm.D. degrees and those currently working in the field. 

Students will be prepared for senior leadership positions in the pharmaceutical sciences in academia, research, education, government, industry, and related fields, and become leaders who can identify, research, and solve problems related to the pharmaceutical sciences.  The Ph.D. degree program is designed to foster student development as critical thinkers, team players, self-directed interdisciplinary scholars, and communicators. 

Faculty
The faculty includes cancer researchers, Dr. Dana-Lynn Koomoa-Lange (calcium signaling changes in disease states), and Dr. Ingo Koomoa-Lange (calcium signaling in innate immune cell and neuroblastoma patho/physiology). Faculty members who are medicinal chemists include Dr. Dianqing Sun (organic synthesis of anticancer and antimicrobial drugs) and Dr. Daniela Gündisch (organic synthesis of central nervous system  drugs and development of in vivo tracers for imaging). The research of Drs. Leng Chee Chang and Shugeng Cao centers on the isolation of novel molecules that possess anticancer and other biological activities from terrestrial and marine sources. Dr. Ghee Tan's research explores the metabolomics and pharmacological role of the gut microbiome in normal physiology and gastrointestinal (GI) diseases, including inflammatory GI diseases and cancer.  Dr. Susan Jarvi is actively involved in rat lung worm disease. Dr. Abhijit Date focuses on targeted therapies utilizing nanoparticles as a drug delivery system. Dr. Supakit Wongwiwatthananukit is involved in mathematical analysis of health care outcomes.  Click here to learn more about the background and diverse research interests of each faculty member; click on the icon to the right of their name.

Tuition
Tuition for the 2020 – 2021 school year is $11,736 per year for Hawaii residents and $26,568 per year for out-of-state residents.  Additional fees for student publications, student activities, student association, campus center, media broadcasting, student health, and student life center are approximately $450/year. Click here to read more about tuition and fees.

Research Facilities
The research facilities are located on the main UH Hilo campus and at the Waiakea research facility a few miles away.  These facilities house all the scientific equipment and instruments needed for molecular isolation and structural analyses, including 400 MHz multinuclear NMR spectrometers, LC-MC systems with ESI and APCI interfaces, LC-qTOF high mass accuracy mass spectrometer, GC-triple quadruple mass spectrometer, X-ray diffractometer, polarimeter, FT-IR, several UV-VIS spectrophotometers, and HPLC systems (analytical and preparative). Pharmaceutics equipment includes a NiComp 380 particle analyzer and a Nano DeBEE homogenizer while a microwave reactor is available for chemical synthesis. Equipment for cellular analysis and molecular biology includes a Perkin Elmer Operetta high content imaging system, Leica confocal microscopes, flow cytometers, multiple research grade upright, inverted and stereo microscopes, centrifuges (high speed, ultra- and microcentrifuges), a GenePix microarray scanner, real-time qPCR cyclers, and a variety of microplate readers with state-of-the-art detection technologies based on photometry, fluorometry, luminometry, time-resolved fluorescence and fluorescence polarization.  All our BSL-2 labs are equipped for the growth of microbes and mammalian cells in culture.