Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences of Cornell University Program in Pharmacology. Graduate School Curriculum

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1 Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences of Cornell University Program in Pharmacology Graduate School Curriculum

2 Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences Partnership between Weill Medical College and Sloan Kettering Institute Part of the Tri-institutional MD/PhD program (w/ RU) Part of a 4 campus Chemical Biology Grad Program (w/ RU and CU in Ithaca) SKI will soon have a new Graduate School on Cancer 7 degree granting programs Pharmacology Neuroscience Physiology, Biophysics & Systems Biology Immunology & Microbial Pathogenesis Biochemistry & Structural Biology Cell Biology & Genetics Molecular Biology consists of Pharm. Dept. of WMC & Mol. Pharm. and Chemistry Program of SKI Combined Program

3 Program Statistics Offers of Admission Trainees Entering Continuing Students Entering students avg. GPA Entering students avg. GREs V:80% Q:73% A:88% GRAD School V:78% Q: 76% A:69%

4 Current Students 10-15% with industry experience Undergraduate Degrees: 5% Pharmacology 25% Chemistry/Biochemistry 65% Biology 5% Other

5 Teaching Pharmacology Graduate Students Medical School Curriculum CHANGED ~ 8 years ago Cell and Molecular biology & Biochemistry course disappeared Pharmacology Course disappeared INITIAL Graduate School response: Core Course for ALL students + Program specific Specialty or enhancement courses CORE COURSE tried to be all things for all programs: Molecular and Cellular Biology, Immunology, Neuroscience, Signal Transduction Useful for some ( leveled the playing field; eg, math majors entering Biophysics and chemists entering Pharmacology) but not for others ( teaching to the lowest common denominator ) CURRENT SYSTEM: Each program mounts its own curriculum Devolved into two halves - Cell, Molecular, Biochemistry Pharmacology, Neuroscience, and Physiology

6 Curriculum: 1 st Year 1st Qtr 2nd Qtr 3rd Qtr 4th Qtr Introduction to Pharmacology Chemical Biology Signal transduction Principles & Systems Cancer Logic & Exptal. Design Neuropharm: Genes, Drugs Neuropharm: Drugs of Abuse Seminars in Pharmacology

7 Logic & Experimental Design First & Second Quarters All Pharmacology, Neuroscience and Physiology graduate students Lectures, Journal Articles, Presentations & Research proposal A multidisciplinary course about the fundamental biochemical, cellular, molecular, immunological, genetic, and bioinformatics approaches used in biomedical research. Texts: Molecular Biology of the Cell (Alberts ) Principles and Techniques of Practical Biochemistry (Wilson and Walker) GOALs: Students should learn the basic principles of molecular and cellular biology. Students should develop an understanding of the techniques and methods available to a modern biologist. Students should develop an appreciation for how to design experiments, include proper controls, and analyze data.

8 Curriculum: 1 st Year 1st Qtr 2nd Qtr 3rd Qtr 4th Qtr Introduction to Pharmacology Introduction to Pharmacology Chemical Signal Principles & Cancer Biology transduction Systems Logic & Exptal. Design Neuropharm: Genes, Drugs Neuropharm: Drugs of Abuse Seminars in Pharmacology

9 Principles of Pharmacology I: Chemical Biology First Quarter All Pharm Students + anyone else who wants to Lectures and Journal Articles GOALs: Students should develop an understanding of the chemical reactions used in biological and laboratory synthesis and manipulation of proteins, nucleic acids, lipids, and carbohydrates. Students should also develop an understanding for the chemical principles that underlie enzyme function. By the end of the course, students should be comfortable reading journal articles on chemical biology and will be expected to give an oral presentation and written report on a topic in the field. Lecture Topics: Kinetics, thermodynamics, receptor-ligand interactions, metabolism & metabolite synthesis, peptide chemistry and synthesis, proteases, protein-protein interactions, nucleic acid chemistry & synthesis, lipids and membranes, glycoproteins, & glycosyltransferases.

10 Principles of Pharmacology II: Signal Transduction Second Quarter All Pharm & Neuro students + some Physiol Students Lectures and Journal Articles GOALs: Provide an understanding of the basic recurring themes in cell signaling and to familiarize the students with a majority of the key signal transduction pathways. Lecturers emphasize the use of pharmacologic and chemical tools used to study problems in signal transduction; molecular structural insights into signaling mechanisms, deduced from x-ray diffraction, NMR, and computational approaches. By the end of the course, students should feel comfortable with reading and comprehending journal articles that report on the latest findings in signal transduction. Lecture Topics: GPCRs & Effectors, camp & CREB, Calcium, NO & ROS, Kinases & Phosphatases, RTKs & small G proteins, MAPKinases, Phospholipids, Ceramide & Sphingolipids, Apoptosis & Caspases, NFkB, Neurotrophins, PI3K/Akt/mTOR, JAK/STAT & TGFβ/SMAD, Frizzled/Hedgehog, Nuclear Receptors, Dioxin/AhR.

11 Principles of Pharmacology III: Principles & Systems Third Quarter All Pharm Students + anyone else who wants to Lectures only Text: Basic & Clinical Pharmacology (Katzung) GOALs: Students should develop an understanding of the General Principles of Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics, and Pharmacogenetics. Students should also develop an understanding for the basic physiology and pharmacological tools or drugs used in various organ systems. Lecture Topics: Principles: Absorption, Distribution & Biotransformation, P450s, Pharmacogenetics, Transporters, Pharmacokinetics, Receptor Theory Nervous and Circulatory system: Cholinergics, Adrenergics, Anti-ischemics, Antihypertensives, Heart Failure Drugs, Antiarrhythmics, Diuretics, Anesthetics Host Defense, Inflammation & Endocrine System: Anti-asthma, Anti-inflammatory, Contraceptives, Antihyperlipidemics, Anticoagulants & thrombolytics, Insulin & Hypoglycemics, Anti-ulcer, Antibiotics, Anti-virals

12 Principles of Pharmacology IV: Cancer Fourth Quarter All Pharm Students + anyone else who wants to Lectures and Journal Articles GOALs: Students should develop an understanding of the unique problems associated with treating cancer and the current approaches. Lecture Topics: Pharmacogenetics, Natural product chemotherapeutics, Proteomic & Genomic Approaches, RNA splicing in cancers, Cell Death & Apoptosis, Resistance & antifolates, Imaging, Radiobiology & Radiation therapy, Proteases, Antibody Therapy, T cell vaccines, Humoral responses, Transcription factors & Oncogenes, Targeting signaling proteins, Stem Cells, Cytokines, Gene Therapy & engineered cells.

13 Curriculum: 1 st Year 1st Qtr 2nd Qtr 3rd Qtr 4th Qtr Introduction to Pharmacology Chemical Biology Signal transduction Principles & Systems Cancer Logic & Exptal. Design Neuropharm: Genes, Drugs Neuropharm: Drugs of Abuse Seminars in Pharmacology