Graduate Courses

Coordinator: Dr. Patricia Di Ciano

Clinical trials are the pivotal studies needed to get approval to market drugs for medical indications. This course focuses on the fundamentals of conducting clinical trials, with an emphasis on documentation and regulatory requirements. Clinical trials will be defined and some design considerations will be discussed. The course will highlight clinical trial Administration, to give students an overview of managing these studies. The course will provide students with the tools to prepare the major documents needed in a clinical trial.

Grade Scale: Letter Grade
Credits: 0.25 FCE
 

Coordinator: Dr. Patricia Di Ciano

Clinical trials are the pivotal studies needed to get approval to market drugs for medical indications. This course focuses on the fundamentals of conducting clinical trials, with an emphasis on documentation and regulatory requirements. Clinical trials will be defined and some design considerations will be discussed. The course will highlight clinical trial Administration, to give students an overview of managing these studies. The course will provide students with the tools to prepare the major documents needed in a clinical trial.

Grade Scale: Letter Grade
Credits: 0.25 FCE
 

Coordinator: Dr. Matthieu Schapira

Students are expected to learn how to visualize and manipulative 3-dimensional molecules in silico and concepts concerning computational chemistry and methodologies to look for novel therapeutics using screens for novel ligand binding pockets.

The course accepts 3 students/month.

• October Section Code: LEC1001
• November Section Code: LEC1101
• January Section Code: LEC0101
• February Section Code: LEC0201
• March Section Code: LEC0301

Grade Scale: CR/NCR
Credits: 0.25 FCE
 

Coordinator: Dr. Peter McPherson

Many anticancer drugs and environmental agents exert their cytotoxic effects through DNA damage. This course explores specific pharmacological and toxicological agents that damage DNA and examines how mammalian cells respond to this DNA damage.

Grade Scale: Letter Grade
Credits: 0.25 FCE
 

Coordinator: Dr. Élyse Caron-Beaudoin

The first part of the course would cover basics concepts and mechanisms of hormonal production, regulation of major endocrine glands, and discuss the etiopathology and clinical manifestations of some endocrine disorders.

The second part of the course would focus on the sources and pathways of exposure to various endocrine disrupting substances, as well as the various mechanisms of action of endocrine disruptors (e.g., alteration of hormone receptors, enzyme stimulation or inhibition, alteration in co-activators, etc).

The last part of the course would be an endocrine disrupting seminar, during which each student presents the objectives, methods and main findings of a peer-reviewed publication investigating the endocrine disrupting effects of one or multiple environmental contaminants. The students will also be invited to critique the paper and propose a follow-up research project.

Grade Scale: Letter Grade
Credits: 0.25 FCE
 

Coordinator: Dr. Basil Hubbard

This course will provide a broad overview of the use of gene-based therapies in medicine. Topics will include: conventional gene therapy, mitochondrial transplantation, recently approved RNA-based silencing and splicing drugs, DNA/mRNA vaccines, and next-generation gene editing tools such as CRISPR/Cas9.

Grade Scale: Letter Grade
Credits: 0.25 FCE
 

Coordinators: Drs. Peter McPherson and Kangbin Zhou

This course will equip students with not only the in-depth knowledge they need about the pharmaceutical and biotech industry but also to enable them to apply profiling in assessing their own potential to transition from academia to industry. The course focuses on strategic self-presentation, professional networking, and interview communication, emphasizing their role in securing and succeeding in industry positions. Through experiential learning activities—including guided networking sessions, presentations, and mock interviews—students critically evaluate their communication strengths and develop targeted strategies for improvement with the intent to secure
non-academic jobs in the pharmaceutical industry.

Grade Scale: CR/NCR
Credits: 0.25 FCE
 

Coordinator: Dr. Vanessa Goncalves

This course will introduce basic pharmacogenetics concepts and provide opportunity for hands-on practice with the tools used within the field. Through applying genetic concepts, students will use research protocols to: (i) clean genetic data, (ii) use statistical inference to analyze unobserved genotypes, (iii) identify variants of relevance for drug response or unwanted effects of drugs, and (iv) learn about other up-to-date tools/approach for genetic studies, such as polygenic risk scores, gene/pathway analysis, imputation (to be defined or maybe vary across individual projects). Guest scientists will provide examples of the successful use of pharmacogenetics in the field of personalized medicine (or colleagues with strong experience in specific methods can also give them a lecture about the method). Using NIH databanks, students will work on a given project as they learn methodology, with the goal of generating findings that they may publish at the end of the course. 

Grade Scale: Letter Grade
Credits: 0.25 FCE
 

Coordinators: Dr. Natasha Anita and Dr. Walter Swardfager

This diabetes pharmacology course explores the underlying causes of type 2 diabetes, focusing on the role of key hormones and receptors such as insulin, glucagon, and GLUT transporters, as well as risk factors like genetics, obesity, and lifestyle. Students will examine the history of diabetes, the development of pharmacological treatments—including insulin, oral hypoglycemics, and emerging therapies—and their mechanisms of action. The course also covers disease complications, including neuropathy, nephropathy, and cardiovascular risks, while addressing variations in insulin resistance and diabetes presentation across populations to emphasize personalized and inclusive treatment approaches.

Grade Scale: CR/NCR
Credits: 0.25 FCE

Coordinators: Drs. Peter McPherson and Kangbin Zhou

This modular course will build on a student’s existing communication strengths while developing additional strategies essential for professional networking and success in industry focused job applications. Through 4 two-week sequential learning blocks, students refine their ability to present themselves strategically, build and sustain professional networks, improve their scientific storytelling, as well as implement the 3-step interview process covered in PCL3118H.

Grade Scale: CR/NCR
Credits: 0.25 FCE