The Department of Molecular Pharmacology in the School of Pharmacy of Lanzhou University is dedicated to the basic research on medicine, biology and pharmacology. By utilizing multidisciplinary techniques, the department is aiming to reveal the pathogenesis of malignant diseases prevalent in the northwest of China. The achievement made in the field of basal medicine is expected to help develop potential targets or strategies for the effective treatment of endemic diseases. In recent years, the department has been fixing eyes on the molecular mechanisms underlying the synaptic transmission and plasticity, chronic pathological pain and chemotherapeutics. Efforts have also been made to commercialize the scientific research to offer better social service.

To date, the faculty in the department consists of 4 full-time researchers with Ph.D. degree, including one professor, one associate professor and two lecturers. There are one Ph.D. supervisor and two master supervisors at the time being. Prof. Dr. Hu Xiao-dong was funded in 2008 by the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University. The researching work in the department has also been supported by several grants from central and local governments, including six National Natural Science Funds of China, one Scientific Research Foundation for the Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars by State Education Ministry, one Science and Technology Support Project of Gansu Province and two Natural Science Funds of Gansu Province. More than 20 papers have been published in SCI journals such as Journal of Neuroscience, Pain, Anesthesiology and Neuropharmacology.

The department offers undergraduate and graduate programs in Neurobiology, Neuropharmacology and Document Retrieval. Now the department has 2 Ph.D candidates and 8 master candidates.