PHRM 738 Drug Action III
This integrated course will provide the student with an in-depth knowledge of the Chemical and Pharmacological basis of drug action for agents marketed to treat neurological disorders, psychiatric states, pain management and cancers. The Medicinal Chemistry component will include a comprehensive discussion of: the relationship between physico-chemical properties of drug molecules and their pharmacokinetic profile (drug absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion - ADME), chemical features of therapeutic agents required to elicit a desired therapeutic response (SAR), chemical basis of the mechanism of action of drugs, fundamental pharmacophores of drugs used to treat diseases, structural basis for drug-target interactions, and chemical pathways of drug metabolism, clinically significant drug interactions and side effects. The pharmacology component will focus on comprehensive discussion of drugs mechanism of action, pharmacological basis of drug selection, disease treatment, pharmacodynamics of drug action, absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination, adverse effects and side effect profile of drugs, drug-target interactions, drug-drug, drug-food, drug-disease interactions. This approach will provide a clear understanding of the available therapeutic agents and lay the foundation for the study and practice of the principles of pharmacotherapy.