Class Schedules – Fall 2024
Class schedules for the current semester are listed below.
Please email phcostudentservices@unc.edu to register for all PHCO courses.
Please note that for all classes: The instructor, in consultation with UNC officials, will monitor classroom conditions and make appropriate instructional adjustments to support achieving course learning outcomes.
PHCO 701 – Introduction to Molecular Pharmacology*
(3 cr. hr)
M/W/F @ 9:05 am – 9:50 am
Location: MEJ 3116
Course Director: Dr. Terry Kenakin
Course Description: This is a graduate-level first year course outlining the basics of molecular pharmacology, including molecular biology, bioinformatics, drug/receptor interactions, receptor and ion channels, regulation of second messengers, drug metabolism and system pharmacology.
Permission of the instructor required for registration.
The objectives of this course are to provide graduate students in biomedical research programs familiarity with the molecular principles of pharmacology involved in the design and action of drugs. Students will increase critical thinking skills in the context of the specific topics listed in the syllabus, which includes molecular biology underlying drug development, key drugable pathways and the interactions between drugs and human body. By the end of this course students should be familiar with molecular principles of drug development including knowledge of gene expression pathways related to drugs, key drugable targets and the interaction between drugs and their receptors. Students should have working knowledge sufficient to apply those principles to new research topics and to propose appropriate strategies to solve relevant research questions.
PHCO 732 – Fellowship/Grant Writing*
(2 cr. hr)
This course is only open to Pharmacology students.
Thursday @ 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Location: MEJ 3104, 3106 and 3108
Course Instructor: Dr. Melissa Herman
Course Description: One of the most important skills you will develop in graduate school, regardless of your future career, is the ability to communicate. The skills needed to communicate effectively cut across different mediums, and include subject matter knowledge, describing complex topics clearly, crafting arguments, and knowing your audience. The primary goal of this class is to help you develop those skills. Along the way, we will also further develop critical thinking as it relates to addressing a scientific question.
Prerequisite, PHCO 701; Permission of the instructor for students lacking the prerequisite.
PHCO 733 – Drug Discovery and Development *
( 2 cr hr)
MWF @ 10:00 am – 10:50 am
Location: MEJ 3102
Course Instructor: Dr. Terry Kenakin
Course Description: Drug Discovery and Development, now done in both industrial and academic settings, is critical to patient healthcare. Pharmacology is an essential element in Drug Discovery process and this elective will familiarize registrants with the various elements involved in the research of finding new drugs. The course spans the complete range of activities from bioinformatic choice of drug targets, validation of drug targets, demonstration of target engagement, screening for new molecules, lead optimization, biologist/chemist interface structure activity study, and clinical testing of drug candidates. All of these endeavors are common to discovery irrespective of the pathology being prosecuted and examples will be presented from CNS, cardiovascular, inflammation, cancer disease areas. In addition, biologics will be discussed as well as conventional small molecule drugs. In general, registrants should emerge from this course with an idea of what drug discovery involves and whether or not they might be interested in this type of research.
Course Content
Discovery in an Industrial Setting and Academia / Project Initiation / ‘Drugging’ Targets / Confirming Target Engagement / Target Manipulation for Therapies / Lead Optimization / candidate characterization / The World of Biologics / Development of Drug Candidates: Pharmacokinetics / Development of Drug Candidates: Early Safety / Clinical Testing of Candidates
PHCO 737– Target-based Anticancer Drug Discovery and Development*
(2 cr hr)
Fridays @ 10:00 am – 11:50 am
Location: LCCC 32-001
Course Instructor: Dr. Adriene Cox
Course Description: The number of signal transduction-targeted anticancer drugs entering the clinic has increased dramatically in recent years, with many more in the pipeline. This course covers the process and complexity of targeted drug development for cancer treatment. It includes lectures, student-led discussions of relevant papers selected by faculty, and a team-based semester-long project in which students will select a real target and then develop mock data in support of a mock drug directed against that target. Teams will make presentations to convince “venture capitalists” (i.e., lead instructors) that they have identified viable candidates for support as targeted anti-cancer drugs of the future. Mock investments, real grades and prizes will be awarded. Several teams from previous classes developed mock drugs that had high degrees of similarity to eventual real drugs.
Topics include:
- Conventional cancer chemotherapy
- Immunotherapy
- Target identification and validation
- Identification of hits – high-throughput screening, rational drug design, lead identification
- Lead compound evaluation – in vitro to cell-based assays
- Lead compound evaluation – preclinical animal studies
- Clinical trials – design and implementation
- Roles of academia, industry, and government
- State of the art – what is in the pipeline?
*Email phcostudentservices@unc.edu to register for all PHCO courses. Meeting times may change to accommodate schedules.