Studying at the University of Verona

Here you can find information on the organisational aspects of the Programme, lecture timetables, learning activities and useful contact details for your time at the University, from enrolment to graduation.

Study Plan

This information is intended exclusively for students already enrolled in this course.
If you are a new student interested in enrolling, you can find information about the course of study on the course page:

Laurea magistrale in Biology for Translational Research and Precision Medicine - Enrollment from 2025/2026

The Study Plan includes all modules, teaching and learning activities that each student will need to undertake during their time at the University.
Please select your Study Plan based on your enrollment year.

Legend | Type of training activity (TTA)

TAF (Type of Educational Activity) All courses and activities are classified into different types of educational activities, indicated by a letter.




S Placements in companies, public or private institutions and professional associations

Teaching code

4S011594

Coordinator

Ilaria Decimo

Credits

6

Language

English en

Scientific Disciplinary Sector (SSD)

BIO/14 - PHARMACOLOGY

Period

Primo semestre LM-6 dal Oct 14, 2024 al Jan 31, 2025.

Courses Single

Not Authorized

Learning objectives

The course aims to provide the conceptual and methodological basis to understand the principles of pharmacology and the basic knowledge necessary for the critical analysis, identification, and development of new drugs. The course will address the fundamental concepts of pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics that are essential to understand the drugs mechanism of action. The molecular mechanisms and strategies that regulate the interaction between drug and receptor for the main classes of drugs, including medicinal products for advanced therapies (ATMPs), drugs based on nucleotides and cell metabolism, will be discussed. The student will develop the experimental and conceptual bases to understand how a new pharmacological target is identified, developed, and validated in the preclinical phases. To enhance this aspect, group activities will be proposed aimed at elaborating experimental plans for the identification and / or validation of new drugs and practical laboratories that bring the student closer to some of the techniques used in the laboratory to identify and validate the pharmacological targets (cell cultures and immunolocalization with confocal microscopy). The course activities will also be integrated with the analysis of scientific articles relating to the topics covered.
Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:
1) analyze the pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic aspects that regulate drug actions;
2) understand the mechanisms of drug activity, including medicinal products for advanced therapies (ATMPs);
3) apply the theoretical and methodological knowledge acquired, for the development of preclinical experimental plans for new target and drug discovery;
4) critically examine scientific articles in the pharmacological field;
5) work in groups, interpret the results of experimental analyzes and communicate them according to the scientific community language.

Prerequisites and basic notions

To take the exam, participation in the course and group work is required.

Program

PHARMACOKINETCS
• General principles of drug delivery
• Distribution: concept of Vd, distribution equilibrium kinetics, barriers
• Metabolism: generality and organization and pharmacogenomics
• Control of the plasma concentration of drugs: operating models
TARGET OF DRUG ACTION
• Principles of pharmacodynamics: characteristics and kinetics of receptor-drug interaction, quantitative aspects and analysis of binding curves, concepts of affinity-powers and effectiveness Evaluation of the effects of drugs
• Receptors: Structural classification and methods of study molecular characteristics of the different classes, signal transduction, enzymes , ion channels and ligand gated ion channel, and transporters
NEW DRUG DEVELOPMENT
• Preclinical research: goals, objectives, limits and rules
• New technologies for HTS including multi-omic analysis for data driven candidate identification
• 2D and 3D cellular models. (organoids and organoid on the chip technology) suitable for high throughput drug screening
• Animal models for drug target screening
• Clinical research for drug discovery: Setting and conducting clinical studies, terminology
• Types of clinical trials
INNOVATIVE DRUG
The topics will emphasize new and/or pipeline drugs including biologics, cell-based therapies and devices. You will use real life case studies as examples of translational medicine. The topics will emphasize new and/or pipeline drugs including biologics, cell-based therapies and devices. The module will also allow students to appreciate novel approaches using primary research data/methodologies to design pre-clinical and clinical studies, with a specific focus on enhancing the discovery of new therapeutic agents for specific patient groups. [Group activity]
• Advance therapeutic medicinal products (ATMPs): general aspects, examples of successful ATMPs and specific experimental setting and regulation in preclinical and clinical studies.
• Regenerative Medicine
• Nucleotides
NEW DRUG TARGET: cell METABOLISM
• Metabolic targets for cancer therapy
• Metabolic targets for neurometabolic disorders (epilepsy, urea cycle diseases, mitochondrial disorders, peroxisomal disorders, lysosomal storage diseases, leukodistrophies…)
• Immunometabolism
EXP DESIGN FOR NEW DRUG TARGET DISCOVERY AND PRECLINICAL VALIDATION
The aim of this topic is to allow students to utilize their knowledge of contemporary/advanced pharmacology and drug discovery to formulate and design a research experiment in pharmacology [group activity]
METHODS FOR RESEARCH IN PHARMACOLOGY
Lab in vitro model for drug discovery (organoid technology) / target validation by immunolocalization and western blotting [lab activity]

Didactic methods

lectures, group work, journal club

Learning assessment procedures

The exam consists of two distinct tests: 1) an oral exam on the program carried out, pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, the mechanism of action of the different classes of drugs and the experimental strategies for target and drug discovery and validation; 2) a written report and exposure of the experimental plan developed in group.

Students with disabilities or specific learning disorders (SLD), who intend to request the adaptation of the exam, must follow the instructions given HERE

Evaluation criteria

To pass the exam, the student must demonstrate that they have fully achieved the educational objectives set. Out of thirty, the overall mark is the average of the evaluation obtained in the two parts of the exam. Specifically, it will be assessed: 1) the specific knowledge; the ability to make connections and deduce information of biomedical relevance; the property of scientific language 2) the accuracy of description of the experimental plan and the ability of critical judgment in the analysis of the scientific results 3) the ability to organize teamwork, the critical thinking, and the communication skills.

Criteria for the composition of the final grade

Out of a total of thirty, the overall grade is the average of the scores obtained in the two parts of the exam.

Exam language

english