Pharmaceutical Sciences (PSCI)

The Seminar course will involve critical evaluation and discussion of current literature in Pharmaceutical Sciences and the development and delivery of a scientific presentation. The literature review and presentation \will focus on a specific Pharmaceutical Sciences topic chosen in consultation with the course coordinator. The presentation will include background, aims, hypothesis, methods/techniques employed, results, summary, and conclusion. This course aims to develop and enhance students' competency in delivering seminars on research topics in Pharmaceutical Sciences.

The course introduces students to ethics of laboratory research. There will be lecture and active case discussions. The course will cover responsible conduct of research. The course will also provide basic principles and methods of hypothesis generation, designing objectives and project development.

The course will provide an opportunity for students to spend time in three laboratories during the semester. During the rotations, students will read and discuss publications of the specific laboratory to allow them to understand the research performed and methodologies used in each laboratory, to help them learn various directions of research with the goal of identifying laboratories where they would carry out the thesis research in their program.

The course will emphasize the fundamental concepts of physiochemical properties of drugs that are critical for their therapeutic effects. Concepts of medicinal chemistry and computational chemistry will be emphasized as they apply throughout the course. The course will also address in depth the formulation process including novel technologies for preparing dispensable medicines. Students will develop a fundamental knowledge base of pharmaceutical drug dosage forms and drug delivery systems. Finally, the student will learn basic principles of pharmacokinetics and biopharmaceutical analysis.

The course will cover the fundamental concepts of drug-receptor interactions, signal transduction pathways and molecular biology as they relate to several diseases. The course will relate these principles to the pharmacology of the drugs. The course will encompass discussion of primary literature.

The course prepares students to understand and develop expertise in the methodologies used in the laboratory.

This course focuses on understanding the process that leads to discovering new drugs. The course covers an understanding of FDA and introduction to various pre-clinical and clinical studies and steps for the FDA approval process. The class will cover an understanding of the drugs that are in different phases of drug development process for many diseases. The course will be an in depth study of the current concepts and literature on specific areas in drug discovery.

"This course focuses on understanding the technologies that required for the development, production, and manufacture of biological drugs. This class will introduce students to the molecular principles, methods and advanced developmental techniques utilized in the production of therapeutic proteins, hormones, antibodies, and DNA based vaccines. Pharmaceutical delivery methods with an emphasis on controlled release formulations will also be focused in this course. The roles of economic considerations, regulatory issues and the approval of biopharmaceuticals will also be incorporated throughout the course as applicable."

This course prepares students to recognize and apply the strategies of the scientific writing process, from ideation to professional scientific communications for a diverse audience. Students will write and orally present sections of their manuscript or proposals and create academic posters while engaging in scientific critique discussions.

This class will provide in depth evaluation of methodologies used in pharmacogenomics and the role of genetics in treating diseases. Through readings, lecture, student presentations and discussion, each class will focus on pharmacogenomics applications in various diseases like cardiac, cancer and diabetes.

Students will learn to apply their knowledge to a scientific problem. The students will develop hypothesis, objectives and plan experiments to address a scientific problem. The students will search primary literature for understanding the area of research and methods. The course will involve written and oral communications as well as problem solving methodology. The scholarly work could be published and presented at scientific meetings. All compliance requirements including safety are to be followed by the students enrolled in this research course. The course is repeatable.

Students will learn to apply their knowledge to a scientific problem. The students will develop hypothesis, objectives and plan experiments to address the scientific problem. The students will search primary literature for understanding the area of research and methods. The course will involve written and oral communications as well as problem solve methodology. The students will develop a deep understanding of the equipment for research and problem solving. All compliance requirements including safety are followed by the students enrolled in this research course. The course is repeatable.