PC2002:03
Molecular Basis of Therapeutics 3
| Townsville | HECS Band 2 |
36 hours lectures, 6 hours tutorials, 24 hours practicals. Semester 1.
Available to students enrolled in the Bachelor of Pharmacy.
Staff: Assoc. Professor B Bowden, Assoc. Professor G Meehan, Assoc. Professor A Nimmo.
This subject builds upon the fundamental concepts of pharmacology and medicinal chemistry introduced in the Semester 1 subject PC2001 . It deals with the concepts of pharmacokinetics, including the mechanisms of drug metabolism and excretion. The subject also introduces the basic principles of toxicology. The importance of chemical analysis in relation to drug development, forensic science, drug testing and clinical diagnosis is examined. Specific topics to be covered include instrumental methods of analysis and structure determination (particularly NMR) and chromatographic separation techniques (HPLC and GLC). Approaches to the development of new pharmaceutical agents, including pharmacognosy, rational drug design and high-throughput screening are also introduced.
Learning Objectives:
- the manner in which drugs are handled by the body (pharmacokinetics), including the mechanisms of drug metabolism and excretion;
- the basic principles of toxicology, including the role of the liver in drug and xenobiotic transformation;
- the role of chemical analysis in drug development, forensic science, drug testing and clinical diagnosis;
- current approaches to the development of new pharmaceutical agents, including rational drug design, drug screening and natural product pharmacology.
Assessment by a three-hour end-of-semester examination (70%); laboratory work (30%).