Harvard Medical School. Dept. of Pharmacology.

The Department of Pharmacology at Harvard Medical School was created in 1902, having originated in the Department of Materia Medica and Therapeutics. In 1937 Otto Krayer (1899-1982) was appointed Associate Professor of Pharmacology at Harvard Medical School and in 1939 he became Associate Professor of Comparative Pharmacology and Head of the Department of Pharmacology. As the head of the department, Krayer was known for emphasizing collaboration among his staff and he recognized the importance of incorporating other fields - biochemistry, physiology, psychology - into pharmacological research, in order to study the full range of effects. Krayer's primary research focus during his tenure was cardiac pharmacology and veratrum alkaloids. While at Harvard Medical School, Krayer was successful in developing talent in the department. Seventeen staff members went on to head academic and administrative departments, including twelve in pharmacology. At the time of Krayer's retirement in 1966, the department was ranked first in the country.