• Length:
    7 Weeks
  • Effort:
    6–8 hours per week
  • Price:

    FREE
    Add a Verified Certificate for $49 USD

  • Institution
    DavidsonX
  • Subject:
    Medicine
  • Level:
    Intermediate
  • Language:
    English
  • Video Transcript:
    English
  • Course Type:
    Self-paced on your time

Prerequisites

High school level chemistry and biology and some experience with organic chemistry.
Basic math skills (logarithms and exponential functions) are also recommended.

About this course

Skip About this course

This medicinal chemistry course explores how chemists modify a molecule’s structure to design a safe and effective drug.

This course opens with a brief history of drug discovery and introduces the modern drug approval process.Then, we will transition to learning about receptors and enzymes, the body’s molecules most often targeted by drugs.We will also discuss the topics of pharmacokinetics (drug adsorption, elimination, and half-life) and metabolism. The course closes with units on how potential drug molecules are identified and subsequently optimized into safe and effective drugs.

What you'll learn

Skip What you'll learn
  • How to measure the activity of enzymes and receptors
  • Methods for modeling a drug’s half-life
  • How to predict and alter the metabolism of a molecule
  • Techniques for discovering molecules with desired biological activity
  • Approaches for optimizing a molecule into a safe and effective drug

This course is offered through a collaboration between DavidsonX and the Novartis Institutes of BioMedical Research.

_Courses offered via edX.org are not eligible for academic credit from Davidson College. A passing score in a DavidsonX course(s) will only be eligible for a verified certificate generated by edX.org.

_

Syllabus

Skip Syllabus

Week 1: Pre-Regulatory Medicine and the Drug Approval Process Early natural products and synthetic molecules used as drugs Safety issues in the first drugs Modern drug discovery and approval process Intellectual property issues with drugs
Week 2: Drug Targets Structure of proteins Enzymes, enzymatic activity, and inhibition Receptors and molecules that modulate their activity Examination 1
Week 3: Pharmacokinetics Drug transport in the blood Clearance Volume of distribution Compartment modeling
Week 4: Metabolism Types of metabolic reactions Genetic and population effects Prodrugs Examination 2
Week 5: Binding, Structure, and Diversity Intermolecular forces Drug-target complementarity Molecular diversity and chemical libraries Combinatorial chemistry
Week 6: Lead Discovery Drug screening Filtering hits to find leads Existing drugs and natural products as leads
Week 7: Lead Optimization Functional group replacements Alkyl group replacements Isosteres and bioisosteres Peptidomimetics Examination 3

Meet your instructors

Davidson College
Erland Stevens
Faculty, Chemistry
Davidson College

Pursue a Verified Certificate to highlight the knowledge and skills you gain
$49 USD

View a PDF of a sample edX certificate

  • Official and Verified

    Receive an instructor-signed certificate with the institution's logo to verify your achievement and increase your job prospects

  • Easily Shareable

    Add the certificate to your CV or resume, or post it directly on LinkedIn

  • Proven Motivator

    Give yourself an additional incentive to complete the course

  • Support our Mission

    EdX, a non-profit, relies on verified certificates to help fund free education for everyone globally