Advanced Pharmacology

Catalog description

This course will introduce concepts involved in drug actions in the body. Principles of medicinal chemistry, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and pharmacogenomics will be explored from a theoretical standpoint with integration of chemical and biological principles. This course engages students to think critically through medicinal chemistry concepts and designs including functional groups, isomerism, bonding, physicochemical properties, salts, and prodrugs while being able to delve into examples of structure activity relationships with regard to interactions between drugs and their targets. A large emphasis on interaction between a ligand and its target (receptors, signaling cascades, second messengers. enzymes, transporters, etc.) and methodology and experimental design at the preclinical level describing the processes and parameters that determine absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion/elimination (ADME) of chemicals will also be covered.