Survey of Modern Therapeutics

Catalog description

Survey of Modern Therapeutics examines the process of drug discovery, development, and approval from target selection to commercialization. The course will provide students with a broad overview of central background concepts in drug development including cellular physiology, target-drug interactions, and pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics. The course will examine the preclinical stages of the traditional small molecule drug discovery process, from initial target identification and validation, through assay development, high throughput screening, hit identification, lead optimization and the selection of a candidate drug. The course will also go through the process of bringing a therapeutic into clinical trials, through FDA approval, and to the market. Students will study some of the modern approaches in therapeutics including small molecules, biologics, vaccines, anti-infectives, and cell therapies and their applications. There are no prerequisites, but a background in biology, chemistry, or a related field is strongly encouraged. Students must request an override code through C@B.