Introduction to Medical Pharmacology
Introduction to Medical Pharmacology, GMS PM 730
Prereq: Premedical curriculum.
Cottone and Kumaresan staff. 4 cr, 2nd sem.
Objectives, Assignments, and Grading
Course Objectives: This course is designed to introduce medical pharmacology to students who are pursuing degrees in the Medical Sciences. Topics will include the basic principles of pharmacology and several major classes of therapeutic agents, with attention to their mechanisms of action. Issues of current and future concern in medical pharmacology will be addressed including the sources of information about pharmacologic agents, the ethics of human experimentation, the drug development process and its costs, problems of drug abuse, and new biotechnological approaches to drug design.
Reading Assignments: The text for this course is Levine’s Pharmacology: Drug Actions and Reactions, 7th ed., Carol T. Walsh and Rochelle Schwartz-Bloom, Taylor & Francis, 2005. The book is available through e-Book resources in the library. The reading assignments for each class are indicated on the lecture schedule. Other reading assignments may be distributed in class or on the BlackBoard site.
Course Grade: The course grade will be determined from the grades for the examinations (40% for Exam 1; 30% each for Exams 2 and 3). This final course score will be converted to a letter grade approximately as follows:
Final Course Score: Letter Grade
93 and above: A
84-92: A-
78-83: B+
70-77: B
62-69: B-
53-61: C+
45-52: C
Course Managers: Pietro Cottone, Ph.D. 72 Est Concord Street, 617-358-1950, cottone@bu.edu; Vidhya Kumaresan, Ph.D. 72 Est Concord Street, 617-358-9580, vidhya@bu.edu
Lecture Schedule
Semester 2, 2022-2023
Mondays and Wednesdays, 10:00-11:50 AM
Lectures in L-110*
*Changes in regular classroom may occur
Mon, Jan 23rd – Introduction and Development of Pharmacology (Dr. Cottone and Dr. Walsh)
Sources of Information About Drugs (Dr. Walsh)
Wed, Jan 25th – Mechanisms of Drug Action (Dr. Cottone)
Mon, Jan 30th – Principles of Pharmacodynamics – Part 1 (Dr. Cottone)
Wed, Feb 1st – Principles of Pharmacodynamics – Part 2 (Dr. Cottone)
Mon, Feb 6th – Drug Transport and Absorption (Dr. Walsh)
Wed, Feb 8th– Drug Distribution and Elimination (Dr. Walsh)
Mon, Feb 13th – Time-Concentration Relationships (Dr. Walsh)
Wed, Feb 15th – Biopharmaceutics, Drug Delivery Systems and Generic vs. Proprietary Drugs (Dr. Walsh)
Mon, Feb 20th – NO CLASS (President’s Day)
Wed Feb 22nd – Pharmacology of the Autonomic Nervous System (Dr. Kumaresan)
Mon Feb 27th – Population Pharmacology 1: Phenotype and Genotype (Dr. Fisher)
Wed, Mar 1st – EXAM I, 10:00am-11:30am
Mar 4th -12th – SPRING BREAK
Mon, Mar 13th – Pharmacology of Hypertension (Dr. Wainford)
Wed, Mar 15th – Population Pharmacology 2: Adherence, Interactions, the Allergic Response and Mechanisms of Tolerance (Dr. Walsh)
Mon, Mar 20th – Pharmacology of Pain and Inflammation (Dr. Zachariou)
Wed, Mar 22nd – Dopamine and Serotonin: Anti-Depressants, Anti-Parkinson’s Agents, and Anti-Psychotics (Dr. Cottone)
Mon, Mar 27th – Development and Pharmacology of Antianxiety and Antiepileptic Agents (Dr. Russek)
Wed, Mar 29th – Pharmacology of Substance Abuse Pharmacology of CNS Stimulants (Dr. Cottone and Dr. Sabino)
Mon, Apr 3rd – Pathophysiology of Diabetes and antidiabetic drugs (Dr. Cottone)
Wed, Apr 5th – EXAM II, 10:00am-11:30am
Mon, Apr 10th – Principles of Chemotherapy (Dr. Walsh)
Wed, Apr 12th – Cancer Chemotherapeutic Agents (Dr. Feng)
Mon, Apr 17th – NO CLASS (Patriot’s Day)
Wed, Apr 19th – Principles of Toxicology (Dr. Walsh)
Mon , Apr 24th – Incidence of Poisonings Treatment of Poisonings (Dr. Walsh)
Therapeutics Development for Alzheimer’s Disease: Opportunities and Challenges (Dr. Farb)
Wed, Apr 26th – Advances in the Development of Biopharmaceuticals (Dr. Nocula-Lugowska)
Mon, May 1st – Cytokines as Therapeutic Drug Targets (Dr. Martin)
Wed, May 3rd – Vaccines and Targeted Anti-Cancer Agents (Dr. Feng)
Mon, May 8th – EXAM III, 10:00am-11:30am
Lecturers
COTTONE, Pietro, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Psychiatry. Research interest: Neurobiology of addictions including eating disorders. R-618, Ext. 8-1950, cottone@bu.edu.
FARB, David H, Ph.D. Professor of Pharmacology. Research Interests: Identification of pharmacological treatments for disorders of learning and memory function. L-603, Ext. 8-1900, dfarb@bu.edu
FENG, Hui, M.D., Ph.D. Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Medicine. Research Interests: identifying novel genes and pathways that are essential for tumor initiation and progression. K-712A Ext. 8-4171, huifeng@bu.edu
FISHER, Shannon, M.D., Ph.D. Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Medicine. Research Interests: Use of the zebrafish as a model organism for the study of skeletal dysplasias. W-607D Ext. 8-4302, shanfish@bu.edu
KUMARESAN, Vidhya, Ph.D., Research Assistant Professor, Research Interests: neuronal activity-dependent plasticity and its relevance for brain disorders. L-616, vidhya@bu.edu
MARTIN, David, Executive Director, Pfizer. Research Interests: Rheumatology. david.a.martin@pfizer.com
NOCULA-LUGOWSKA, Malgorzata, Ph.D. Senior Principal Scientist, Research Interests: antibody and protein engineer with industry experience in the design and discovery of monoclonal and multispecific antibodies. malgorzata.nocula-lugowska@pfizer.com
RUSSEK, Shelley, Ph.D., Professor of Pharmacology and Biology. Research interests: Regulation of genes for CNS receptors. L-606, Ext. 8-4319, srussek@bu.edu
SABINO, Valentina, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Psychiatry. Research interests: Neurobiology of addiction and stress-related disorders. R-612, Ext. 8-1311, vsabino@bu.edu
WAINFORD, Richard, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Medicine. Research interests: CNS regulation of blood pressure and renal function. W-607, Ext. 4-8238, rwainf@bu.edu
WALSH, Carol T., Ph.D., Professor of Pharmacology.
Research interests: Pharmacokinetics, gastrointestinal pharmacology, metal toxicology. R-610, Ext. 8-1320, ctwalsh@bu.edu
ZACHARIOU, Venetia, Ph.D., Chair and Professor of Pharmacology.
Research interests: Signal transduction, epigenetics, G proteins, chronic pain, addiction. vzachari@bu.edu
STAFF
Holman, Licia, Academic Manager, Department of Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics. L-603, Ext. 8-9564, pharm2@bu.edu