Overview
Delve into the world of drugs, exploring their origins, targeted actions, safe delivery, and transformation into medicines that improve human health and well-being.
This paper will introduce the origins of drugs and the indigenous, academic, and industry approaches that have led to their discovery. It will provide a foundation in core principles and experiments used to define how drugs move within and are altered by the body (pharmacokinetics), to interact with and elicit responses from their targets (pharmacodynamics). It will then take students for a journey along the multidisciplinary pipeline from drug design and preclinical testing to clinical trials that ensure new medicines are safe and effective for human use, while exploring the societal, ethical, and industry challenges associated with their development.
About this paper
| Paper title | Pharmacology: Drugs to Medicine |
|---|---|
| Subject | Pharmacology |
| EFTS | 0.1500 |
| Points | 18 points |
| Teaching period | Semester 1 (On campus) |
| Domestic Tuition Fees ( NZD ) | $1,318.20 |
| International Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for international students are elsewhere on this website. |
- Prerequisite
- BIOC 192, CELS 191, CHEM 191, HUBS 191 or PTWY 131, HUBS 192
- Restriction
- PHAL 211, PHAL 221, PHAL 212
- Schedule C
- Science
- Contact
- pharmacology@otago.ac.nz
- Teaching staff
Convenor: Dr Jonathan Falconer
2026 teaching staff to be confirmed.
- Paper Structure
PHAL 241 has lectures, tutorials and laboratories.
- Textbooks
Rang and Dale's Pharmacology. Note that this book is available as an ebook online through the library.
- Graduate Attributes Emphasised
Global Perspective, Interdisciplinary Perspective, Information Literacy, Cultural Understanding, Scholarship, Critical Thinking, Ethics, Research, Self-Motivation, Teamwork, Communication, Life-Long Learning.
View more information about Otago's graduate attributes.- Learning Outcomes
Students who successfully complete the paper will:
- Identify what drugs are and where they come from.
- Relate the interaction of a drug with its target to its therapeutic effect.
- Relate how a drug enters and exits the body to its therapeutic and toxic effects.
- Apply principles of chemistry to drug activity and safety.
- Consider critical steps and challenges in developing safe and effective medicines.
- Apply experimental and analytical methods to investigate drug responses.
- Compare the safety, efficacy, and cost-effectiveness of medicines.
- Apply different methods of communicating science.
- Assessment details
PHAL 241 is assessed through a final exam (60%) and internal assessments (40%) which may include a poster presentation, research summaries, medicine review, and test.
Overview
Delve into the world of drugs, exploring their origins, targeted actions, safe delivery, and transformation into medicines that improve human health and well-being.
This paper will introduce the origins of drugs and the indigenous, academic and industry approaches that have led to their discovery. It will provide a foundation in core principles and experiments used to define how drugs move within and are altered by the body (pharmacokinetics), to interact with and elicit responses from their targets (pharmacodynamics). It will then take students on a journey along the multidisciplinary pipeline from drug design and preclinical testing to clinical trials that ensure new medicines are safe and effective for human use, while exploring the societal, ethical and industry challenges associated with their development.
About this paper
| Paper title | Pharmacology: Drugs to Medicine |
|---|---|
| Subject | Pharmacology |
| EFTS | 0.1500 |
| Points | 18 points |
| Teaching period | Semester 1 (On campus) |
| Domestic Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for 2027 have not yet been set |
| International Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for international students are elsewhere on this website. |
- Prerequisite
- BIOC 192, CELS 191, CHEM 191, HUBS 191 or PTWY 131, HUBS 192
- Restriction
- PHAL 211, PHAL 221, PHAL 212
- Schedule C
- Science
- Contact
- Teaching staff
Convener: Dr Jonathan Falconer
- Paper Structure
PHAL 241 has lectures, tutorials and laboratories.
- Textbooks
- Rang and Dale's Pharmacology.
Note that this book is available as an eBook online through the library.
- Graduate Attributes Emphasised
- Interdisciplinary perspective, Scholarship, Communication, Critical thinking, Cultural understanding, Ethics, Information literacy, Research, Self-motivation, Teamwork.
View more information about Otago's graduate attributes. - Learning Outcomes
Students who successfully complete the paper will:
- Identify what drugs are and where they come from.
- Relate the interaction of a drug with its target to its therapeutic effect.
- Relate how a drug enters and exits the body to its therapeutic and toxic effects.
- Apply principles of chemistry to drug activity and safety.
- Consider critical steps and challenges in developing safe and effective medicines.
- Apply experimental and analytical methods to investigate drug responses.
- Compare the safety, efficacy and cost-effectiveness of medicines.
- Apply different methods of communicating science.
- Assessment details
PHAL 241 is assessed through a final exam (60%) and internal assessments (40%) which may include a poster presentation, research summaries, medicine review and test.