This course provides students with the opportunity to develop an in depth understanding of the principles of pharmacokinetics, enabling them to interpret drug concentration measurements and to optimize dosage regimens in individual patients. They will also gain insight into the importance of pharmacokinetics in developing new therapeutics.

Lectures and tutorials weekly during the semester.

Written examination (70%)

Therapeutic Drug Monitoring case study exercise. Students will work in groups on a specific case study, producing a group presentation (10%) and individual written report (max 1000 words; 20%)

The aim of this course is to provide students with an in depth understanding of the principles and applications of pharmacokinetics which will endow them with the skills to interpret drug concentration measurements and to optimise dosage regimens in clinical practice. They should also be able to discuss the importance of pharmacokinetics in the optimal development of new therapeutic entities.

By the end of the course the student should be able to:-

• Apply fundamental principles to estimate and interpret pharmacokinetic parameters from drug concentration data,

•Design dosage regimens to achieve optimal therapeutic drug concentrations in individual patients,

•Discuss the influence of clinical characteristics on drug disposition,

•Select and apply appropriate compartmental models to describe drug disposition,

•Evaluate the different approaches that may be adopted to integrate pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic indices,

•Articulate the problems associated with the assessment of bioequivalence and generic substitution,

•Evaluate the importance of different pathways of drug metabolism and the factors that influence these pathways, and

•Demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of the principles and practical application of drug concentration analyses in biological samples

•Discuss the role of pharmacokinetics in the optimal development of new chemical entities.

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.