MPS Course Descriptions

Core Courses

MPS 501 Introduction to Pharmaceutical Sciences- I (3 CR)

Crosslist: PBS 602 Pathophysiology & Pharmacology I This course introduces the basic mechanisms of pathophysiology and pharmacology, and then integrates these disciplines through the study of the etiology, pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, treatment and prevention of major neurologic, psychiatric, and neuroendocrine diseases/disorders. Following an introduction to normal tissue types and adaptive responses, the course will cover basic etiological and pathophysiological mechanisms; mechanisms of injury will be reviewed; the central and peripheral nervous systems (CNS & PNS) are reviewed, major CNS, PNS and neuroendocrine diseases and disorders are covered, Students will learn the mechanism(s) of action and common or serious adverse effects of pharmacological agents and identify appropriate pharmacological treatments or adjust pharmacotherapy in the face of adverse effects. In addition, each student team will research a topic in depth, including a systematic search of peer-reviewed literature, to develop and present a formal case study, given at a level appropriate for an audience of healthcare professionals. To promote information literacy, teams will use systematic PubMed searches using MESH terms to identify and incorporate current literature reviews, guidelines, or other advanced professional sources, and carefully cite the information and sources on their slides.

MPS 502 Techniques in Pharmaceutical Sciences: Theory and Practice - I (2 CR)

This course is designed to advance critical thinking in research approaches and methodology providing MPS students an overview in new advances in therapeutics including gene therapy and technical applications in the field of Industrial Pharmacy, Integrated Pharmacological Medicine, Translational Medicine, Alternative and Complementary Medicine, Drug Discovery and Targeting Complement Therapeutics. Course subjects will cover research technique trends, pitfalls and alternative approaches to overcome them.

MPS 506 Research and Thesis - I (3 CR)

This course is designed to provide hands-on research experience in laboratories of biomedical and pharmaceutical sciences. Students will choose the research topics after consultation with their major advisors. This course will exam the students' capabilities in original article review, research design, research execution, statistics, result analysis & discussion, and written skills of thesis.

MPS 507 Capstone Paper - I (3 CR)

This course is designed to advance critical thinking and written skills in the identification and synthesis of contemporary topics in the broad area of pharmaceutical sciences. MPS 504 (Literature & Technical Writing Skills) is divided into two sections for the graduate students in Plan B (Capstone Track): (i) section I delineates the basic skills and techniques in reference search, review, and writing exercise; and (ii) section II is designed to evaluate the students’ capabilities in integration of science, literature, and communication skills. Successful and timely completion of capstone paper is mandatory for students in this track.

MPS 511 Introduction to Pharmaceutical Sciences– II (3 CR)

Crosslist: PBS 605 TBL Pharmaceutics and Calculations This course is designed to provide students with the deep understanding of the drug physicochemical properties and its effects on drug formulation and computing, dosage form as well as an understanding of the interactions between drug delivery systems and biological systems The course covers the traditional and non-traditional dosage forms as well as drug delivery systems. The course also covers pharmaceutical calculations and an overview of drug quality control and regulation.

MPS 512 Principal of FDA Regulatory Affairs and Drug Discovery (2 CR)

This course focuses on regulatory strategy, guidance and regulatory compliance, legal and ethical issues, processes for product development and the business components of regulation in clinical research, all while reinforcing the science behind the methods. The regulatory affairs course provides students with the knowledge and understanding for the key elements of the regulatory process in various industries, governmental agencies, and consultancies worldwide.

MPS 513 Biostatistics & Research Methods (3 CR) Crosslist: CAS 606 Biostatistics and Pharmacoepidemiology

This course is designed to introduce major concepts in biostatistics and pharmacoepidemiology. Students will develop the ability to interpret and critically evaluate medical literature and to identify findings that have implications for their practice. Emphasis will be placed on an examination of how observational study designs draw upon epidemiologic techniques to address drug effectiveness, safety, outcome assessment and regulatory decision making. Students will also acquire skills in applying statistical analysis concepts learned throughout this course with the use of common computer software.

MPS 514 Clinical Biochemistry (3 CR)

This class provides a clear and comprehensive introduction to the biochemical basis of disease processes, how these diseases are investigated in biomedical laboratories, and selected clinical cases as framework for class discussion activities. MPS 514 class is one of the major courses with great benefits for prospective medical students. The course is established on organ base system compatible with the teaching modules in medical program.

This course prepares the prospective medical students to do well in step one exam in medical school. The students taken MPS514 class are particularly enthusiastic and love it, because the exams in this class are given in USMLE style, preparing them to be familiar with the exam (Step 1, 2 & 3) styles they will be facing in medical school.

In the class, the students are exposed to new trends of clinical cases and their biochemical basis linking the theory to practical cases in laboratories, while helping them engage with emerging diseases and how to treat them. In addition, the course provides a biochemical foundation for the understanding of drug action, drug absorption and metabolism in the treatment of these diseases.

MPS 515 Medical Immunology (3 CR)

MPS 515 is a broad-spectrum course that covers the fundamentals and clinical aspects of Immunology. The course is divided into 4 major modules: (1) Introduction to Immunology, (2) Innate and adaptive Immunity, (3) T and B cells development and (4) Clinical Immunology. Each module will be followed by an exam covering all the discussed topics within that module. In addition, students will be engaged in journal club activity for classical articles known to be the pillars in the Immunology field.

MPS 516 Research and Thesis - II (3 CR)

This course is designed to provide hands-on research experience in laboratories of biomedical and pharmaceutical sciences. Students will choose the research topics after consultation with their major advisors. This course will exam the students' capabilities in original article review, research design, research execution, statistics, result analysis & discussion, and written skills of thesis

MPS 518 Advances in Drug Delivery Systems (3 CR)

The course offers the students an overview on Drug Delivery Systems in terms of Formulation, Manufacture, and Quality Control. Students will learn Oral, Topical, Parenteral, Transdermal and other Modified-release Drug Delivery Systems. Details are given with respect to advanced technologies such as 3D Printing for Personalized Medicine and Nanoparticle Delivery Systems for Protein and Vaccine Therapeutics. The course also covers basic Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics considerations, Pharmaceutical Compounding and Calculations.

MPS 601 Drug Design (2 CR)

MPS 601 course is designed to provide MPS, MS + PharmD, and MS + MD dual degree students with a deep understanding of the sequential steps of drug design. These steps are identifying target disease, identifying drug target, establishing testing procedures, finding a lead compound, structure-activity relationships (SAR), identifying a pharmacophore, drug design- optimising target interactions and pharmacokinetic properties, toxicological and safety tests, chemical development, and production, patenting and regulatory affairs, clinical trials. Finally applying all the previous steps on drug design of different drug categories ex. opioid analgesics.

MPS 602 Trends in Clinical Diagnosis (elective) (2 CR)

Trends in Clinical Diagnosis (MPS 602) course will provide MPS students with a comprehensive introduction and trends of clinical diagnosis of diseases (identification of diseases by considering the symptoms and/or performing a laboratory exam). The course will focus on the determining the nature(s) and cause(s) of diseases using the combination of signs, symptoms, and laboratory findings (investigations) during the life of the patients. Specific emphasis will be focused on new trends of clinical diagnosis of diseases. In this course, students will work in groups on a given type of disease and they will be asked to present to the whole class their different sets of clinical diagnosis to determine (identify) the given disease(s) to further help them engage with the emerging diagnostic techniques of diseases. The course will be comprised of a total of 10 weeks (3 hours/week). The Instructor will provide the materials (Power point slides, Video if applicable before the class presentation.