Graduate Course Descriptions

The following directory lists the graduate courses which the University expects to offer, although the University in no way guarantees that all such courses will be offered in any given academic year, and reserves the right to alter the list if conditions warrant. Click on the links below for a list of courses in that subject area. You may then click “View Classes” to see scheduled classes for individual courses.

5215. Pharmaceutical Biotechnology

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

A survey of medicinal chemistry and pharmaceutics of pharmaceutical products derived from modern methods of molecular biology. Considers products in use or in clinical trials to emphasize the conceptual basis, design, and synthesis of biotech products in the context of current practical applications.

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5216. Dosage Forms I

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Introduces the student to the principles of thermodynamics, ionic equilibrium, chemical kinetics and diffusion. Application of these principles to formulation, stability and dissolution of a drug product, and release from the dosage form for optimum therapeutic outcome. Required of entering graduate students in Pharmaceutics who do not have a Pharmacy background as well as those who do not pass the qualifying examination within the first year of the program.

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5217. Dosage Forms II

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Covers the basic principles of the surface and colloid chemistry and rheology, as these relate to the performance of dispersed system dosage forms including colloids, suspensions, emulsions, suppositories, aerosols, ointments, and transdermals. Required of entering graduate students in Pharmaceutics who do not have a Pharmacy background, and those who do not pass the qualifying examination within the first year of the program.

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5219. Biopharmaceutics and Pharmacokinetics

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Basic principles of biopharmaceutics, bioavailability, and pharmacokinetics, including their application to the rational design of both dosage forms and maximally effective dosing regimens. Intended for graduate students who may not have sufficient previous exposure to biopharmaceutics and pharmakokinetics.

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5239. Current Literature in Pharmaceutics

1.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 3 credits.

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

Designed to familiarize students with current pharmaceutics literature and to educate students in critical peer review in the pharmaceutics literature.

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5240. Drug Discovery and Development

2.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

The processes of new drug development; target identification, drug discovery process, drug candidate evaluation, preclinical toxicity assessment, drug formulation and delivery, clinical trials for safety and efficacy, and FDA regulation on new drug application.

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5250. Pharmacogenomics and Personalized Medicine

2.00 credits

Prerequisites: Open to graduate students or by instructor consent for prepared upper-level undergraduates. Recommended preparation: A basic understanding of genetics is recommended.

Grading Basis: Graded

The allied fields of pharmacogenomics and personalized medicine have become areas of intense interest. Each patient responds to drugs and medical treatments in an individualized way, often having to do with underlying genetics. Individual genetic variance often impacts treatment efficacy, pharmaceutical responses, and toxicological adverse events. This course will consider these knowledge areas, which are at the cutting edge of medical advance. Aspects of personalized medicine that go beyond genetics, including the use of patient-matched stem cells will also be discussed.

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5293. Seminar in Pharmaceutics

1.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 4 credits.

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

Reports and discussions.

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5295. Special Problems in Pharmaceutics

1.00 - 4.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Individualized course for students desiring research experience in any of the areas of pharmacy other than the area chosen by the student for thesis research.

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5297. Special Topics in Pharmaceutics

1.00 - 6.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 24 credits.

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Includes topics not presently covered in courses which are pertinent to current departmental research and areas of recent development in the literature.

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5301. Macromolecules in Drug Design

2.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

A cooperative presentation of the fundamentals of medicinal chemistry.

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5302. Chemical Biology and Drug Design

2.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Introduction to the emerging field of chemical biology with a particular focus on the role it plays in understanding cellular signaling, drug design, and drug development.

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5303. Small Molecule Structure and Function

2.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Small organic molecules continue to be the preeminent form of therapeutic agents. The small molecules that constitute clinically used agents are developed through a highly interdisciplinary process involving chemists, biologists and healthcare workers in a process commonly referred to as drug discovery. The purpose of this course is to provide the student with a broad view of drug properties, drug function and the drug discovery process.

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5308. Structure and Function of Biological Membranes

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Overview of cell membrane structure and function based on a foundation of physical and biochemistry principles. Topics include lipid bilayers, vesicles and liposomes, cholesterol, membrane protein structure and function, transport, membrane fusion, receptors, drug/membrane interactions and membranes in cell regulation.

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5393. Seminar in Medicinal Chemistry

1.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 10 credits.

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

Reports and discussions.

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5395. Special Problems in Medicinal Chemistry

1.00 - 4.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 12 credits.

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Individualized course for students desiring research experience in any of the areas of medicinal chemistry other than the area chosen by the student for thesis research.

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5397. Special Topics in Medicinal Chemistry

1.00 - 6.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 12 credits.

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Current developments in Medicinal Chemistry. A course for students needing exposure to topics not covered in other department offerings.

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5403. Current Literature in Pharmaceutical Sciences

1.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 2 credits.

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

Designed to familiarize students with current pharmaceutical sciences literature and to educate students in critical peer review of this literature.

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5454. Principles of Safety Evaluation

1.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Introduction to toxicologic risk assessment. Fundamentals of dose-response relationships and risk characterization, and their application in the establishment of permissible exposure limits for drugs and other chemicals in the environment or workplace.

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5471. Advanced Pharmacology I: Basic Principles

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Molecular mechanisms of drug action including occupation and rate theories. Characterization of receptors in-situ and in-vitro.

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5472. Advanced Pharmacology II: Drug Disposition

2.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Drug absorption, distribution, excretion, metabolism, interaction, allergy, resistance, tolerance, idiosyncrasy and toxicity.

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5475. Toxicology Scholars Colloquium

1.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 5 credits.

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Reviews, discussions and seminars focused on the research of scientists who have made significant contributions to the science of toxicology.

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5493. Seminar in Pharmacology and Toxicology

1.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 2 credits.

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

Reports and discussions on journal and review articles and presentation of personal research results.

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5494. Seminar in Immunology

1.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 2 credits.

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

Reports and discussions.

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5495. Special Problems in Pharmacology I

1.00 - 4.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 6 credits.

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Individualized for students desiring research experience in any of the areas of pharmacology.

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5496. Special Problems in Toxicology

1.00 - 4.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 6 credits.

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Individualized course for students desiring research experience in any of the areas of toxicology.

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5497. Special Topics in Pharmacology

1.00 - 6.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 24 credits.

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Includes topics not presently covered in courses, which are pertinent to current departmental research and areas of recent development in the literature.

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5498. Special Topics in Toxicology

1.00 - 6.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 24 credits.

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Basic principles of toxicology as emphasized by recent developments in the biochemical toxicology literature.

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5746. Introduction to Managed Care Pharmacy

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

A study of managed care pharmacy within the United States health care system, with emphasis on managed care organization and control, pharmacy benefits design and management, outcomes measurement, pharmacoeconomics, health care provider and client education, benefits plan financing and marketing, and legal issues of managed care pharmacy.

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5764. Advanced Pharmacy Administration

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

A study of modern management techniques applicable in terminal drug distribution. Special emphasis is placed upon quantitative methods and the utilization of electronic data processing.

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5797. Special Topics in Pharmacy Administration

1.00 - 6.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Current developments in Pharmacy Administration. A course for students needing exposure to topics not covered in other Department of Pharmacy Practice offerings.

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6234. Advanced Biopharmaceutics

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Overview of physico-chemical, biopharmaceutic, and physiologic factors controlling the delivery of drug and their sites of action.

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6241. Advanced Kinetics and Mechanisms of Drug Degradation

2.00 credits

Prerequisites: PHAR 6288.

Grading Basis: Graded

An advanced treatment of the physical organic chemistry critical to the characterization and understanding of stability in pharmaceutical products.

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6242. Freeze Drying of Pharmaceuticals

2.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

The science and technology of freeze drying, including fundamentals of heat and mass transfer gas systems, process design considerations, and formulation strategies with emphasis on stabilization of therapeutic proteins.

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6285. Complex Equilibria

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

A study of the physico-chemical and mathematical treatment in pharmaceutical systems. Topics center on thermodynamics, activity coefficients, acids and bases, solubility, complexation solubilization and protein binding.

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6286. Transport Processes

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Emphasis is on the application of the laws of diffusion to dissolution, membrane transport and release of drugs from dosage forms.

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6288. Kinetics and Mechanisms of Drug Degradation and Stability

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

A study of the kinetics and mechanisms of drug degradation in the solid and liquid states and drug stabilization.

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6289. Pharmacokinetics

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

A discussion of absorption, distribution, and clearance mechanisms, and their impact on concentration-time profiles and drug response.

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6290. Colloid Chemistry and Interfacial Phenomena

3.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Interfacial phenomena, colloid chemistry.

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6452. Toxicology of the Respiratory System

2.00 credits

Prerequisites: PHAR 6455.

Grading Basis: Graded

Anatomic and functional aspects of toxic injury to the respiratory tract with an emphasis on biochemical and physiologic mechanisms of toxic pulmonary injury. Lectures and student presentations.

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6455. Advanced Toxicology

4.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

A study of the harmful effects of toxic chemicals on biological systems. Emphasis is on mechanisms of toxicant action and on practical applications of modern techniques to assess toxicity and hazard.

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6459. Immunotoxicology

2.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Demonstrates the detrimental effects on the immune system and/or inflammatory response, by a variety of physical and chemical xenobiotics. Emphasis is placed on the mechanisms of chemical and drug-induced immunosuppression, autoimmune response, and allergic response.

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6475. Mechanistic Toxicology I

2.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Mechanistic toxicology describes the processes of how chemicals exert their toxic effects in biological systems. Therefore, understanding of the underlying mechanisms of toxicity, together with exposure estimates, provides key information that links the toxic hazard of a chemical with the actual human health risk. This first course explores some fundamental cellular and molecular mechanisms of toxicity and integrates them into a larger picture; reactive intermediates, oxidative and nitrative stress, and mitochondria-mediated toxicity will be covered. The basic concepts will be illustrated with specific examples (drugs and environmental chemicals).

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6484. Cutaneous Differentiation: Molecular Mechanisms and Cellular Processes

2.00 credits

Prerequisites: None.

Grading Basis: Graded

Examines mammalian skin structure, keratinocyte, immune and pigment cells, mechanisms of mesenchymal-epithelial induction, replication- and cytoskeletal-based diseases, stem cell identification and plasticity, and transcriptional regulation of differentiation-dependent gene expression.

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