A pharmacologist is a scientist who studies drugs and medicines: what they do in the body, how they move through it, and why a helpful amount can become a harmful one. The job is research — in a lab, a university, or a drug company — not the shop. You will meet the word in science writing and university courses; it is formal, and it always names a person. The -ist at the end is the same person-ending as in artist or scientist. Though actually, almost everyone mixes this person up with a pharmacist. A pharmacist is the one behind the counter who prepares your medicine and tells you how to take it. A pharmacologist tries to understand the medicine itself, often years before it reaches a bottle. Some people train in both, but the jobs are not the same. You would not ask a pharmacologist to count out your tablets, and you would not ask the high-street pharmacist to design the trial.

藥理學家（研究藥在身體裡怎麼作用的科學家；不是藥局的藥師）