PHRM 601 - Principles of Drug Action

Prerequisite, doctor of pharmacy major. This introductory course will facilitate understanding of fundamental concepts related to medicinal chemistry, pharmacology and toxicology with primary focus on drug design and mechanism of action of pharmacological agent. The goal is to provide a strong foundation for the application of drugs in the Integrated Therapeutics courses. Discussions will include the sources of drugs, tools for drug design approaches, and how the chemistry of a drug defines its pharmacokinetics and drug-receptor interactions. The students will become familiar with basic concepts in drug discovery, drug targets, drug-receptor interactions, enzymes, mechanism of drug absorption, methods in structure-activity relationships, combinatorial chemistry, and molecular modeling. Emphasis will be placed on the mechanisms by which drugs exert their actions and potential drug-drug interactions. (Offered every year.) 4 credits