Description

This course will be an intensive 2-week Foundations of Cancer Therapeutics (FCT) Crash Course that surveys key elements in the process of discovering, developing and commercializing cancer therapeutics. A major component of the crash course is the Merck drug discovery material for TIPS T32 trainee course plus live lectures from drug discovery experts.  It will introduce students to the basic principles of drug discovery and development, including how such research is conceived, conducted, evaluated, explained to patients, and applied to patient care. Students will then apply these principles to analyze and discuss specific and current drug discovery and development projects at both UT Health and pharmaceutical companies.  These cases will each have associated questions to be explored so students may learn to identify optimal patient targets for new drugs while ensuring the safety of their subjects. Each discussion will include issues of science, ethics, conflict of interest, and intellectual property.