Optional course for MS in Integrated Pharmaceutical Sciences students who have been matched with a faculty mentor and who have begun research early for their capstone project (fall or winter term). Research may include drug discovery, drug delivery, or clinical pharmacy. Credit will not be counted towards the total credits required for the degree; this course is used to indicate when capstone research has begun.

Prerequisites: Current students enrolled in MS in Pharmaceutical Sciences program

Terms: Fall/Winter

Students in the Master of Science in Integrated Pharmaceutical Sciences program will complete a capstone project under the guidance of a College of Pharmacy faculty member. The capstone project will be completed in spring/summer semester, unless otherwise approved, requiring a full-time commitment. The capstone project should be a research project, literature synthesis, or an approved on-campus or off-campus internship, including a presentation and final written report.

Prerequisites: Integrated Pharmaceutical Sciences Masters program

Terms: Spring-Summer

This course will provide a comprehensive overview of the field of Medicinal Chemistry. Students will gain knowledge of how structural characteristics lead to the development of biologically active molecules for the development of new pharmaceuticals.

Prerequisites: Chemistry 210 with a C- grade or higher

Terms: Fall/Winter

This course explores venom chemistry, biological function, and drug discovery. Students examine venom components, mechanisms, and venomous animal clades, including delivery and function. The curriculum covers venom-derived drugs and diagnostics, emphasizing foundational skills for characterizing venom components and bioactivity, preparing students for advanced analysis in subsequent courses.

Prerequisites: Biolchem 415 OR MCDB 310 OR Chem 351 AND Chem 215. Minimum grade requirement: C-

Terms: Fall

This course covers venom chemistry and function in drug discovery, featuring lectures on antivenoms and bioactivity analysis. Students learn omics-based venom characterization and antivenom design, applying cluster computing for bioinformatics using U-M’s Great Lakes HPC. Emphasis is on hands-on training and current venom research.

Prerequisites: Completion of MedChem 306. Minimum grade requirement: C-

Terms: Fall

Students will learn about techniques researchers in pharmaceutical sciences use to understand the chemical structures of drugs and biologics. The course focuses on fundamental chemical and physical phenomena crucial for helping scientists identify unknown substances and verify structure characteristics of chemical matter in drug discovery settings.

Prerequisites: Junior or Senior academic level and Chemistry 210 with a C- grade or higher

Terms: Fall

This course builds on fundamentals examined in the Basics of Drug Analysis by presenting strategies and examples of chemical and physical analysis tools used to identify and verify drugs and biologics. Students will learn about instrumentation used in modern laboratory settings and gain an applied knowledge related to interpreting real data sets.

Prerequisites: Junior or Senior academic level and completion of MedChem 308, or permission of the instructor

Terms: Fall

This course is designed to help you gain a comprehensive understanding of the basic concepts related to drug actions, their physicochemical properties and interactions with their targets in bacterial, viral and malignant diseases. The class will discuss clinically available drugs used to treat infectious agents and cancer. In order to achieve the course outcomes, a basic understanding of related topics is required. While knowledge of these topics is an absolute necessity, this course is directed towards teaching you to think critically and apply higher thought processes. Thus you will encounter a variety of activities designed with this purpose in mind and active learning will play an important role in this course.

Prerequisites: Biolchem 415 OR Chem 351 OR MCDB 310. Minimum grade requirement: C-

Terms: Winter

An introduction to the multi-parameter optimization process of drug discovery and development. Students learn how to optimize and measure drug properties such as selectivity, solubility, and metabolic stability. Techniques covered include biochemistry, chemical analysis, and chemoinformatics.

Prerequisites: Senior standing in the BSPS program. Course is to be completed during final winter semester of enrollment. Completion of MedChem 310 recommended prior to enrollment in MedChem 410.

Terms: Winter

Search for new drugs while learning about algae in the field.

Prerequisites: Chem 130; Biology 171 or Biology 195; or equivalent

Terms: Fall/Summer

The experiences will vary depending on the specific faculty member's project but may include: conducting clinical or basic science research, performing an extensive review of the literature and preparing a summary report/manuscript, analyzing data that has previously been collected. Students may work on a single project or be exposed to several types of projects during the course. For specific details of the course, students should contact individual faculty.

Terms: Fall/Winter

This course introduces concepts required to understand drugs as organic chemicals whose biological activities derive from their chemical structures and physicochemical properties. The course continues with a survey of different analytical methods used to assay pharmaceuticals (including hands-on laboratory exercises) and concludes with a discussion of basic concepts of drug design, structure activity relationships and drug metabolism.

Prerequisites: First Year PharmD Students

Terms: Fall

This course provides a high-level overview on the structure, function and chemistry of biological macromolecules including proteins, nucleic acids and carbohydrates. Topics include: molecular forces, structure, and dynamics: understanding macromolecular folding, energetics of macromolecular interactions (kinetics and thermodynamics), ligand binding and mechanistic enzymology. Using specific examples from current literature, each topic stresses how chemists have used molecular level tools and probes to help understand the specific systems under study. The overarching theme is that biological structure and function are interconnected.

Terms: Fall

This course is a continuation of Chemical Biology 501. The basic concepts obtained in Chemical Biology 501 will be applied to and demonstrated in three broad areas of interest to both chemists and biologists. The first topic discusses protein homeostasis (both biosynthesis and degradation). The second topic focuses on signal transduction, emphasizing general concepts (at the molecular level) and how small molecules have been used to probe and modulate signal transduction pathways. The final topic covers chemical biology tools and approaches (selections, screens, small molecule libraries, genomics, proteomics, directed evolution and catalytic antibodies).

Prerequisites: Chemical Biology 501

Terms: Winter

U-M Department of Pharmacology, Life Sciences Institute, and Michigan Drug Discovery have developed a new course/program to provide relevant experience to trainees who are potentially interested in pursuing careers in pharma. Students will participate in "New Target Strategy Teams," with each team researching and presenting their evaluation of a potential novel drug discovery project of interest to Michigan Drug Discovery. These teams will be organized and run very similarly to how these same kinds of teams operate in "big pharma," and trainees will be making an important contribution to real-world decisions regarding which potential projects Michigan Drug Discovery and its collaborators will invest resources into.

Prerequisites: Permission of instructor

Terms: Fall

U-M Department of Pharmacology, Life Sciences Institute, and Michigan Drug Discovery have developed a new course/program to provide relevant experience to trainees who are potentially interested in pursuing careers in pharma. Students will participate in "New Target Strategy Teams," with each team researching and presenting their evaluation of a potential novel drug discovery project of interest to Michigan Drug Discovery. These teams will be organized and run very similarly to how these same kinds of teams operate in "big pharma," and trainees will be making an important contribution to real-world decisions regarding which potential projects Michigan Drug Discovery and its collaborators will invest resources into.

Prerequisites: Permission of instructor

Terms: Fall

This course is a continuation of MC500 and covers concepts of drug-receptor interactions, signal transduction and pharmacogenomics, drug classes that affect the autonomic nervous system and histaminergic system and drug classes used in GI disorders, pain and inflammation, coagulation, hyperlipidemia and vitamins. Basic concepts discussed include pathophysiology of related disorders, mechanisms of action, SAR, DDIs, adverse effects and clinical use.

Prerequisites: MedChem 500

Terms: Winter

This course focuses on therapeutic drug monitoring, understanding of common lab tests and learning about a number of laboratory techniques commonly used in drug analysis with an emphasis on data interpretation and pharmaceutical calculation.

Prerequisites: MedChem 500; minimum grade requirement: C-

Terms: Winter

This course will cover the chemical and catalytic mechanisms of enzyme-catalyzed reactions, with an emphasis on organic and organometallic cofactors in biology and mechanisms of group transfer reactions, redox reactions, rearrangements, decarboxylations, carboxylations, and methylation.

Prerequisites: Chem 525, Biolchem 660, Biolchem 515, or equivalent

Terms: Fall

This course explores the roles of organic and organometallic cofactors in biology. Topics covered are cofactor assembly, cofactors as sensors, and cofactors in enzyme chemistry, with an emphasis on modulation of cofactor reactivity by complexation with the protein.

Prerequisites: Biochemistry 452 or Chemistry 452, or equivalent, or permission of instructor

Terms: Fall