Graduate Portfolio Program in Pharmacoengineering

With this comprehensive, interdisciplinary education, you will be equipped to drive innovation in pharmacoengineering by:

• Enhancing medication efficacy
• Improving targeted drug delivery for optimal bioavailability
• Accelerating drug discovery beyond traditional methods.

Pharmacoengineering Portfolio Program Overview

You will develop a range of skills and knowledge in:

1. Data-driven and machine learning approaches to drug design and delivery
2. Modeling of drug-target interactions across the molecular, cellular and tissue-level scales
3. Novel drug delivery strategies
4. Methods for monitoring delivery and/or mapping distribution of the therapeutic agent as well as assessing its activity and efficacy against a targeted medical condition

What is a Portfolio Program?

Graduate portfolio programs provide opportunities for enrolled graduate students to obtain transcriptable credentials in cross-disciplinary academic areas of inquiry while they are completing the requirements for a graduate degree in a particular discipline. Portfolio programs promote cross-disciplinary scholarship and study by bringing together faculty and students from a variety of disciplines whose interests transcend boundaries of traditional academic disciplines. The Office of Graduate Studies provides an overview of the university’s general portfolio program requirements.

Eligibility

The program is open to graduate students across UT Austin but is especially suited for those with backgrounds in drug discovery and delivery, biomolecular and biochemical modeling, molecular and cellular biology, and pharmaceutical sciences. It is particularly designed for students in the following disciplines:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Biochemistry
• Chemical Engineering 

Course Requirements

1. Students will normally apply to enter the program during their first or second year of doctoral studies. Students will submit their applications during either of two admissions cycles per year (two weeks before the first day of class for the fall and spring semesters)
2. Students will complete four thematically related graduate courses, each with at least 3 credit hours. The four courses will include three courses (9 credit hours) offered by at least two graduate programs outside of the student’s primary degree major. Additionally, the following requirements need to be satisfied:
   • One course at the molecular or cellular level and one at the system (larger than cell) level
   • One computational course
   • Achieve a 3.0 GPA or better within portfolio program courses
3. Students must complete one independent study/project and/or one internship. Doctoral Dissertations may be used to satisfy the independent study requirement of a portfolio program
4. Students must fill out the Graduate School’s Portfolio Completion Reporting Form and send it to the Program Director

Application Information

Submit application materials to the committee: pharmeng-adm@utlists.utexas.edu 

• A letter of intent with Name, EID, and degree program, signed by the student’s PhD advisor and co-signed by the student’s Graduate Advisor of the primary degree program.
• One-page statement describing the applicant’s interest and motivation
• A list of completed graduate courses with grades
• Proposed coursework and project/internship for completing the portfolio

Application Deadlines:

July 1: Fall 2025 semester

Dec 1: Spring 2026 semester

Steering Committee:

• Renee Acosta, College of Pharmacy
• Kevin Dalby, Medicinal Chemistry
• Andy Eliington, Molecular Bioscience
• Nicholas Peppas, Biomedical Engineering & Chemical Engineering
• Tyrone Porter, Biomedical Engineering
• Pengyu Ren, Biomedical Engineering
• Bill Williams, Molecular Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery