Pharmacology Courses

Course directors: Titus Boggon, Christopher Bunick, Susumu Tomita, Don Nguyen, Yansheng Liu, Hongying Shen, Arnaud Augert, and Megan King.

This two-semester seminar course is required for first year students in the TMMPP track. The objectives of this course are to: (1) teach students how to critically evaluate and discuss the scientific literature, (2) learn how to articulate these ideas in a written format that is relevant to grant writing, (3) improve the ability of the students to give oral presentations, and (4) provide students with the opportunity to learn about individual topics from a physiological, pathological, and molecular perspective.

Course director: Elias Lolis.

This course provides fundamental background in core principles of pharmacology, molecular mechanisms of drug action, and key research areas in contemporary pharmacology. Core material includes drug-receptor theory, multiple equilibria and kinetics, pharmacokinetics and drug metabolism, therapeutic drug monitoring, and drug discovery. Specific content on the mechanisms of drug action includes agents to treat inflammatory, autoimmune disease, infectious, neoplastic, cardiovascular, and pulmonary disease. The course includes a self-study component consisting of video modules produced in collaboration between Yale faculty and Merck that explore the preclinical and clinical phases of drug development.

Course director: Kathryn Ferguson.

This course provides an in- depth experience in drug design, drug discovery, high throughput screening, state-of-the-art proteomics, and target validation. The course is divided into four modules consisting of 1) Lectures from faculty experts on advanced topics in pharmacology, 2) Panel Discussions on principles of drug discovery and development, 3) Workshops providing hands-on experience with cutting-edge instrumentation used in the drug discovery process, and 4) Case Studies in Drug Development featuring faculty and guest speakers with direct experience in taking a drug from the bench and moving it towards the clinic. This course is required for students in the PPTP.

Course director: Jason Cai

This course provides a historical account of drug discovery and development for psychiatric and neurological diseases and introduce state-of-the- art methods to study the impact of drugs on the nervous system. It provides a scientific foundation in medicinal chemistry, neuroscience, and molecular imaging for students interested in quantitative neuropharmacology. This course also introduces the theoretical basis of advanced imaging technologies (PET, MRI, optogenetics) and their applications in preclinical and clinical neuropharmacology. Classroom sessions include didactic lectures and interactive discussion sections.

Course directors: Titus Boggon, Christopher Bunick, Susumu Tomita, Don Nguyen, Yansheng Liu, Hongying Shen, Arnaud Augert and Emanuela Bruscia.

This is a continuation of PHAR 501/C&MP 629/PTB 629/PATH 679.

Course director: Anton Bennett.

The majority of FDA-approved drugs target proteins involved in cell signaling, such as G protein-coupled receptors and protein kinases. This course starts with an introduction to the basic principles of intracellular signal transduction and the major classes of signaling molecules. Students will then learn about specific signaling pathways relevant to a variety of physiological and pathological settings. Finally, students will learn about cutting- edge methods and approaches for analyzing signaling processes, including proteomics, functional genomics, computational modeling, and live cell imaging.

Course directors: Ya Ha and Titus Boggon.

This course provides a comprehensive introduction to the concepts and practical uses of structural biology and structural biology-related techniques in drug discovery. The first half of the course focuses on techniques used to discover and optimize small molecule and biologic drugs. The second half of the course focuses on drug discovery, particularly for protein kinases. The course includes a practical component, where students conduct hands-on structural biology and biophysical experiments in a laboratory setting, and a field trip to the Yale Center for Molecular Discovery, where the students are introduced to in-house small molecule screening facilities.

Course Directors:Mark Lemmon, Moitrayee Bhattacharyya, and Titus Boggon.

The goal of this class is to teach students to conceive, write, and defend a grant proposal. The timing of this half-term course is aligned with the Pharmacology qualifying exam in the Spring term, for which a written research proposal is required. This course takes students through the steps of proposal writing, guiding them in defining a problem of their own and training them in the mechanics of writing. Students learn about the structure and components of fellowship and grant proposals. They engage in “mock study sections”, providing written critiques and participating in discussion of sample proposals assigned by the instructors. Students give oral presentations of their specific aims followed by classroom discussion. By mid-March, students will have made substantial progress toward completing the written portion of their qualifying exam. The class will take a break while students complete their oral exams and restart once all exams are complete to discuss how to turn the qualifying exam proposal into an NIH F31 fellowship application, which is also the format for the dissertation prospectus. Open to graduate students only. Priority is given to Pharmacology Graduate Program students.

Course director: Barbara Ehrlich.

Required for first year students in the TMMPP track. This course is taught by faculty in the Pharmacology, Pathology, Physiology, and PTB programs and two or three senior graduate students. Classroom sessions are based on case studies from primary literature, reviews, and two texts: Francis Macrina’s Scientific Integrity and Kathy Barker’s At the Bench. Each week, students submit a reaction paper discussing the reading assignment. Students take turns leading the class discussion. The final assignment consists of a 5-page paper on a hot topic in bioethics.