Course Description
This course aims to equip students with basic and practical knowledge of pharmacokinetics (PK) and metabonomics and the applications to lead identification and target validation in drug discovery and development. Properties and factors that affect drug PK, pharmacodynamics, and toxicity are discussed (i.e., physicochemical, interactions with human body, pathological factors, etc). New trends, including frontier researches in gut microbiome, new models and technique platforms are introduced. Case examples from the literature illustrating successful lead selection and optimization using PK and metabolomics approaches in drug development will be shared and comprehensive strategies that integrate PK and metabolomics attempted in mechanistic understanding of Chinese medicines will be discussed. Meanwhile, the challenges posed to the conventional PK concept/strategy tailored to western medicines when applied to the holistic eastern medicinal system will be addressed.
Intended Learning Outcomes
CILO-1: Master the general principles governing drug disposition and how it affects the hits in drug discovery and development.
CILO-2: Design in vivo and in vitro experiments to characterize drug exposure and the metabolic network shifts in response to drug intervention.
CILO-3: Analyze and model pharmacokinetic and metabolomics data, interpret and correlate the data to efficacy and toxicity.
CILO-4: Identify and solve practical problems with pharmacokinetics and metabolomics knowledge.
CILO-5: Apply multidisciplinary knowledge and techniques into pharmacokinetic and metabolomics profiling to obtain in-depth mechanistic understanding of drug efficacy.
CILO-6: Know the general procedure of untargeted and targeted metabolomics.