Pharmacology BSc

TBC

The module aims to allow the student to develop an understanding of drug discovery and the pharmacology behind some of the most important classes of medicines that are currently in the clinic.

The course deals with fundamental concepts and methods in molecular pharmacology and protein structure. Students will study the major classes of drug targets, their role in signalling systems that lead to changes in cell and tissue function, and thus how their modulation can influence patient health.

As part of the focus on drug development, students will research in a focussed area of early drug discovery to identify how drug candidates may be taken on to become medicines.

Primary objective of the module

This is a practical module to introduce students to experimental pharmacology, experimental design, data analysis, and how to write a scientific report.

Module Content

Students will carry out a series of practicals and workshops that will be closely tied-in with the lecture material delivered in the other pharmacology modules. Through this module, students will develop their practical skills, as well as their data analysis and scientific writing skills

You will learn how knowledge of structural and synthetic aspects of molecules is applied in the discovery and design of new drugs. The concepts of pharmacophores and structure–activity relationships are introduced with the aid of instructive examples of drugs in clinical use. You will learn to apply medicinal chemistry concepts to the design and optimisation of molecularly targeted drug candidate molecules.

This module will teach you the underlying neurophysiology and pathology associated with several common CNS disorders and the neuropharmacology of currently available medication. You will learn about the neurotransmitters and pathways involved in normal brain function and how changes in these contribute to abnormal function. You will also decipher the pharmacological mechanisms of drugs used to treat these CNS disorders. You will cover numerous human diseases including those with great significance such as Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy, schizophrenia and autism.

To introduce the students to the issues surrounding the use of complementary and alternative medicines, including legal issues, safety issues, and interactions with drugs.

Life on Earth provides an introduction to the fundamental characteristics and properties of the myriad of organisms which inhabit our planet, from viruses, bacteria and Archaea, to plants and animals. In weekly lectures, and regular laboratory practical classes, you will consider how living organisms are classified, how they are related genetically and phylogenetically, and basic aspects of their structure and function.

This module will provide you with a comprehensive understanding of the structures of DNA and RNA and how the information within these nucleic acids is maintained and expressed in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cell types. Additionally, this module describes how nucleic acids can be manipulated in vitro using molecular biological approaches. Practical classes will focus your learning on the cloning and manipulation of DNA to express recombinant proteins in bacterial systems.

You will study microbiology, learning about pathogenic microbes including viruses, fungi, parasites and the roles of bacteria in health and disease. You will learn how the body generates immunity; the causes of diseases associated with faulty immune responses will be considered. In applied microbiology you will be introduced to recombinant DNA technology and prokaryotic gene regulation.

This module provides students with skills for communicating science to a wide audience. It will give students the opportunity to look at the impact of pharmacology on the wider community, for example, environmental and societal impact.

Students will learn how to communicate science to different audiences such as; lay versus scientific community, using different styles of presentation. These include:

• poster
• oral presentation
• abstract
• summary review

As well as this, students will learn to consider the impact of disease on society.

Concepts of reactivity are introduced and rationalised in the context of the basic reactions that are used to form the bonds in organic molecules. You will acquire a mechanistic understanding of the reactions that are used to form carbon-carbon and carbon-heteroatom bonds in simple functionalised aromatic and aliphatic drug molecules.

This module considers the structure and function of soluble proteins and how individual proteins can be studied in molecular detail. More specifically you will learn about the problems associated with studying membrane-bound proteins and build an in-depth understanding of enzyme kinetics and catalysis. You will learn about the practical aspects of affinity purification, SDS PAGE, western blotting, enzyme assays, bioinformatics and molecular modelling approaches.