Medicinal Chemistry and Drug Design

Catalog description

This course focuses on concepts and strategies in medicinal chemistry, and how it is applied to modern drug discovery and development. Topics include the drug discovery process, drug targets (GRCR?s, enzymes, channels etc.), physical chemistry of molecular interactions between drug and target, drug design, methods for hit and lead identification, lead optimization, chemical biology, natural products chemistry and combinatorial and diversity oriented synthesis. G-protein coupled receptors, channels, nucleic acids and protein-protein interactions. Additionally, therapeutics area specific medicinal chemistry and drug discovery applications will be covered including anti-cancer agents, anti-infectives (antibiotics and anti-virals), and therapeutics to treat psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders.This course is geared to upper level undergraduate students in chemistry or biochemistry, and first year chemistry graduate students. A strong understanding of organic chemistry is required.