Introduction to Pharmacology

Pharmacology rests on a set of core principles that, once understood, make the rest of field intelligible. This course builds that foundation. We cover pharmacokinetics (how the body handles drugs), pharmacodynamics (how drugs act on the body), toxicology, and the drug development pipeline, and we apply those principles through a survey of systems pharmacology addressing the autonomic, cardiovascular, respiratory and renal, endocrine, and central nervous systems, along with an introduction to antimicrobial and chemotherapeutic agents. This course is designed to give students a broad understanding of the modern pharmacology landscape. Alongside classical small-molecule drugs, students encounter biologics, cell and gene therapies, and nucleic-acid-based medicines (antisense oligonucleotides, siRNA, mRNA, and CRISPR-based therapeutics). A dedicated week on pharmacogenomics introduces students to precision pharmacology and the resources that translate genetic variation into clinical decisions.