A recent survey of positions held by UAB PhD graduates indicated that 20% were employed in pharmaceutical or biotech companies. Scientists assumed these positions with requisite technical and theoretical skills, but with little training in the workings of modern drug discovery programs. Pharmaceutical companies historically assumed the role of training new recruits in the process of drug discovery end development. However, applicants with knowledge and/or experience in drug design and testing would be better candidates for these positions. Therefore, PhD programs should incorporate appropriate introductory training into the modern drug discovery process. This element is key in the context of training biomedical scientists to rapidly move discoveries in the lab to new drugs and treatments for patients.

Course Description: 

This course follows the pipeline of drug discovery from target selection to FDA approval.  

Lectures include: Introduction to Drug Discovery, Target Validation, Selecting the Right Target, High Throughput Screening, Hit to Lead to Candidate Optimization, Preclinical Toxicology, DMPK Bioanalytical Analysis, Clinical Trials, and Business Development & Drug Discovery.

Additional lectures will cover infections, CNS and cancer drugs and targets, structure-based drug design, assay development, high content screening, and mechanisms of drug action.

Fellows see first-hand the high throughput screening facility and other facilities at SRI. They also learn about biosafety level III with ongoing research on high pathogen avian flu and SARS.

Fellows will gain an understanding of the modern drug discovery process, including the steps from identification of lead targets to completion of clinical trials required for FDA approval. This course challenges fellows to think about how the molecule or pathway identified in their research could be targeted and validated.