Course Description
This course introduces the fundamental concepts and methodologies used in modern drug design and discovery. Students will examine the basic principles of medicinal chemistry and their application to the development of therapeutic agents. The course covers the full early-stage drug discovery pipeline, including drug target identification and validation, bioassay development, and high-throughput screening of compound libraries. Emphasis is placed on chemical synthesis strategies used to generate and optimize lead compounds, including the study of structure-activity relationships (SAR) and structure-based drug design. Students will also explore molecular modeling techniques and computational tools used in rational drug design. Additional topics include absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME); metabolic pathways; toxicity assessment; and the requirements for preclinical evaluation. Through case studies and real-world examples, students will gain an integrated understanding of how drugs are discovered and refined before entering clinical trials.
Objectives
Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:
- Describe the stages of the drug design and discovery process, from target identification to preclinical evaluation.
- Apply basic concepts of medicinal chemistry to predict how structural features influence a compound’s biological activity and drug-like properties.
- Analyze structure-activity relationships (SAR) to guide drug candidate optimization
- Interpret protein-ligand interactions and apply structure-based drug design (SBDD) and molecular modeling tools in the context of drug discovery.
- Summarize the principles of absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) and describe how they impact drug efficacy and safety.
- Integrate interdisciplinary knowledge and synthesize concepts from medicinal chemistry, pharmaceutics, and pharmacology to design a rational plan for advancing a hypothetical compound through early-stage development.
- Demonstrate critical thinking by evaluating scientific evidence, comparing alternative approaches, and making informed decisions in drug development scenarios.
Topics
- Basic principles of medicinal chemistry
- Drug target identification and validation
- Bioassays
- High-throughput screening and compound libraries
- Chemical synthesis
- Medicinal chemistry and structure-activity relationships
- Structure-based drug design
- Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, Excretion (ADME)
- Drug Metabolism
- Drug Toxicity
- Preclinical testing and toxicity and translational studies