PP3150:03
Chemical Pharmacology
Townsville
Prerequisites: BC2024
36 lectures, 24 hours practicals. First semester.
Staff: Dr A Nimmo.
The general principles of drug action, focussing on the major targets for drug action, drug-receptor interactions, chemotherapy, drug design, pharmacognosy and drug screening, toxicology and measurements in pharmacology.
Learning Objectives:
- how drugs are able to affect the functioning of living systems;
- how drug treatments may be aimed at specific targets, increasing the efficacy of treatment and reducing side effects;
- the principles of selective toxicity and the development of antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal and cancer chemotherapy agents;
- the rationale behind drug formulations and different routes of administration, the time course of drug action, drug metabolism and toxicology;
- current approaches to the development of new pharmaceutical agents, including drug design, drug screening and natural product pharmacology.
Assessment by a three-hour examination (70%); written laboratory assignments (30%).