Richert - Urdang Lab
The UW-Madison School of Pharmacy is pleased to invite applications for a fully funded PhD studentship on the History of Pharmacy, Psychoactive Substances, and Pharmaceuticals in any period between 1700 and the present to start on 15 September 2025. This studentship provides four years of full-time funding, including tuition fees but excluding segregated university fees.
The relationship between pharmaceuticals and society – including medical cannabis and psychedelics – has attracted sustained attention and significant responses from national and international medical and public health associations and the regulatory community. Bearing this in mind, the Urdang Lab, led by Professor Lucas Richert, is offering a PhD position contributing to the historical understanding of psychoactive substances that examines the role of, for example, cannabis, psilocybin, LSD, DMT, or opiates/opioids in science and society. With support from Richert and a network of psychoactive scholars on the UW-Madison campus, the student will have an opportunity to determine their dissertation focus. Some examples of topics include: a) entrepreneurship and marketing, b) agriculture and the environment, c) local and state regulations and policies, d) the social side of drug control and consumption, e) competing marketplaces, and conflicts between the medical model and personal use model.
The PhD position is offered through the Health Services Research in Pharmacy graduate program in the UW-Madison SoP. The PhD candidate will have an opportunity to gain both teaching and research experience as they develop a dissertation proposal in the first year. The PhD candidate will be guaranteed funding over a four-year period, which is the expected time to graduate in the HSRP program. Additional funding beyond the four years will be contingent on progress and performance. The PhD candidate will be expected to work closely with team members in the American Institute of the History of Pharmacy, and with the wider History of Science, Medicine, and Technology (HSMT) community on the UW-Madison campus. Other units of collaboration include the Transdisciplinary Center for Research in Psychoactive Substances (TcRPS) and the Holtz Center for Science and Technology Studies.
Eligibility and application process
Applicants must hold a master’s degree in history or a closely related field; or, if the applicant has a degree in pharmacy, they must have a specialty in, and demonstrable understanding of, the history of science and medicine. Aptitudes in the history of pharmaceuticals, psychedelics, and intoxicants would be particularly welcome.
To apply, please send a resume/CV (including degree transcripts), a PhD proposal of between 500 and 1000 words, and a sample of relevant academic work (up to 8,000 words in length) by 5pm CST on Monday 26 May 2025.
After review of these documents and communication from Dr. Richert and the HSRP program, the deadline to submit all materials to the UW Graduate School is:
This studentship is open to all applicants. We strongly encourage applications from communities underrepresented in US academic history.
For additional information or questions about applying to UW-Madison’s graduate school and/or requirements in the HSRP program, contact the Graduate Program Manager Hollie Thompson (hthompson7@wisc.edu). If you have questions about the SAS division and HSRP program, contact Kristen Huset (kristen.huset@wisc.edu).
OPENINGS IN THE URDANG LAB: The Urdang Lab is open to accepting new undergraduate students and interns. The Lab is currently looking to support students around ongoing projects in the histories of community pharmacy; pharmaceutical history; cannabis history and policy; psychedelic studies and humanities.The Lab is also looking to support students and student projects in the realm of information and library science.
Birkhauser, a graduate of UW-Madison’s Anthropology Department and the Psychoactive Pharmaceutical Investigation (PPI) program, began her PhD in the HSRP program in 2024. In past years, she co-organized the “Psychedelic Pasts, Presents, and Futures” workshop and worked in the Transdisciplinary Center for Research in Psychoactive Substances.
Strange, a PhD student in the HSMT program at UW-Madison, focuses on the translation of nomenclature, constructing scientific disciplines, and scientists’ participation in nationalist rhetoric in China during the early twentieth century. Her research focuses on modern Chinese history (late imperial to 1950) as well as the history of chemistry (carbon-based chemistry or organic chemistry) and pharmaceuticals.
Carter, a PhD student in the English Department at UW-Madison, was a Project Assistant in the Urdang Lab during the 2022-2023 academic year. His PA was supported by OVCRGE Fall Research Competition at UW-Madison for the project “Drug Store, Inc.: The Rise of Big Pharmacy and American Health Capitalism.”
Richard Del Rio is a historian with research interests in the American drug industry, its transformation over time and the societal consequences those changes hold. In 2023-2024, he taught in the PharmD and Psychoactive Pharmaceutical Investigation programs. Dr. Del Rio earned his doctorate in history from the University of Chicago’s Social Science Division in 2018. Richard left the UW-Madison School of Pharmacy in 2024 to join Johns Hopkins University.
Kristen worked in the Urdang Lab and with the AIHP as a Digital Archive Assistant in 2022-2023. She has since moved into a new role at the AIHP, where she serves as a Digital Collections Specialist.
Thi Le is a Researcher in the Urdang Lab and an MS student in the Psychoactive Pharmaceutical Investigation (PPI) program at UW-Madison. Additionally, Thi is a Horticultural Business Development Consultant at TLeaf Consulting & Co, as well as a holder of a BS degree from UW-Madison.
Genevieve worked in the Urdang Lab and with the AIHP as a Digital Archive Assistant in 2020-2021.
Magnuson, a graduate of the UW’s Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies,Carter, was a Project Assistant in the Urdang Lab during the 2022-2023 academic year. Her PA was supported by the Urdang Lab and the American Institute of the History of Pharmacy. During her time in the Lab, Magnuson served as an Editorial Assistant at History of Pharmacy and Pharmaceuticals and focused on social media / communication activities.
Kathy Phillips was a Reseacher in the Urdang Lab in 2023-2o24, as well as an MS student in the Psychoactive Pharmaceutical Investigation (PPI) program. Kathy was a registered psychiatric nurse for over twenty-five years.
Amanda received her PhD in English with a concentration in Composition and Rhetoric in 2023. Her dissertation project, co-supervised by Lucas Richert and Carolyn Gottschalk Druschke, examined the rhetorical and ethical landscape of psychedelic substances across culture, biomedicine, and industry. Amanda also co-organized the Lab’s “Psychedelic Pasts, Presents, and Futures” workshop in academic year 2022-2023. Amanda is now an Assistant Professor of Rhetoric of Science in the Department of English at Kennesaw State University.
From 2023-2025, Hannah Swan was the archivist for the School of Pharmacy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she worked on an NEH grant-funded project run by the Urdang Lab. She holds a postgraduate degree in Archives and Records Management from University College London and a master’s in Book History and Material Culture from the University of Edinburgh. Hannah is now History of Health Sciences Librarian at Ebling Library, UW-Madison.
Maeleigh Tidd graduated with an MSc and a PhD student in Health Services Research in Pharmacy program at UW-Madison. In 2024, Mae completed her dissertation called “Exploring the integration of pharmacists in Wisconsin’s HIV Prevention programs.” She is the author of several recent publications aimed at pharmacists and other academic audiences.
ABOUT HISTORY OF PHARMACY & THE URDANG LAB: The UW-Madison School of Pharmacy has a century-long tradition of promoting the history of pharmacy in its curriculum. The PhD pathway in pharmacy history is housed in the Social and Administrative Sciences Division (SAS), and it has fostered a close working relationship with the wider HSMT community on the UW-Madison campus, which includes Medical History & Bioethics, the History Department, and the Holtz Center for Science and Technology Studies. Students and staff in the Urdang Lab, and in the history of pharmacy pathway, will be exposed to interdisciplinary training and will operate within a unit encompassing scholars of all academic backgrounds. The Urdang Lab promotes a broad understanding of pharmacy history that incorporates aspects of medicine, health, society, pharmaceuticals, and technology. Students based in the Urdang Lab pursuing the history of pharmacy pathway will be provided opportunities to develop practical history skills in various ways, including in the publishing sector, archival and heritage settings, outreach activities and administration, and teaching in the UW-Madison PharmD and Psychoactive Pharmaceutical Investigation (PPI) masters programs.
PHARMACY HISTORY’S HISTORY: The history of pharmacy was first taught in the UW-Madison School of Pharmacy in the late 19th century. However, the history of pharmacy graduate studies pathway in the UW-Madison School of Pharmacy stretches back to the late 1930s, when Prof. George Urdang was recruited to Madison from Germany. It is one of the only “history of pharmacy” graduate studies pathways in North America, and it differentiates UW-Madison from other pharmacy schools across the country. Graduates include major figures in the history of science, medicine, and pharmaceuticals, such as Glenn Sonnedecker, John Swann, Gregory J. Higby, and others.