Objectives of Programme's Learning Outcomes

• Acquire, understand and use knowledge in the fields of biology and other fields
• Understand the fundamentals of chemistry (including organic chemistry) and general physics both applied to biology
• Understand and use mathematical tools and basic statistics to describe and understand biological concepts
• Demonstrate an understanding of the general principles of life to understand questions and solve situations related to biology
• Integrate knowledge from other fields of knowledge with biology (earth science, physics, chemistry, mathematics), in a critical way, to foster an interdisciplinary approach
• Synthesise and summarise, in a critical way, information from scientific literature in different forms (textual, numerical, verbal and graphic)
• Solve issues relevant to biology
• Have developed practical skills in the various fields of biology through practical sessions in the laboratory and in the field, during which they have worked individually or in groups
• Make accurate observations in the context of activities in the field and in the laboratory
• Analyse and interpret, in an appropriate way, biological data collected in natura, through dissection or based on an experimental protocol in the laboratory
• Apply a scientific approach and critical thinking
• Understand and apply the basic principles of reasoning (obtaining data, analysis, synthesis, comparison, rule of three, syllogism, analogy, etc.)
• Work with efficiency / accuracy / precision
• Present a hypothesis and hypothetical-deductive reasoning
• Develop critical thinking, test and monitor conclusions understanding the domain of validity, and explore alternative hypotheses
• Manage doubt and uncertainty
• Communicate effectively and appropriately in French and English
• Understand and summarise articles, websites and other scientific works in French and English
• Communicate in French, orally and in writing, the results of experiments and observations by constructing and using graphs and tables
• Communicate on biological topics, orally and in writing in English and in writing in French, using the appropriate scientific language according to the audience
• Develop autonomy, set training objectives and make choices to achieve them
• Organise time and work, individually and in groups
• Prioritise
• Manage stress regardless of events (exams, presentations, etc.)

Learning Outcomes of UE

What should be learned by the student in this teaching unit:
several aspects of pharmacology/toxicology, which means:
- What is a drug and what is the fate of a drug after administration to a patient, thus what determines the pharmacokinetics of a drug and how can it be assessed.
- How are drugs metabolized in the body, thus what are the main biotransformations undergone by drugs with the main aim of their elimination, and how can it be assessed or predicted.
- What are the main molecular targets of drugs and how they influence cellular processes to induce a pharmacological effect (thus pharmacodynamic aspects; target affinity, selectivity, dose-response curve (potency-efficacy of drugs)). 
- What is toxicology, how is it assessed and predicted in drug development and what are mechanisms of toxicity due to drugs and more generally to xenobiotics or their metabolites, how certain toxicity can be experimentally assessed or predicted on the basis of chemical structure.

 

Content of UE

This UE will contain theoretical lessons in three parts:
Description of Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism and Elimination (ADME) steps of a drug, in other words: the fate of the drug in the body (or its pharmacokinetic behavior).
Examples of main drug targets and description of mechanisms by which they exert their pharmacological effect after interacting with their target.
Toxicology: adverse drug effects and other toxicity mechanisms of xenobiotics (drugs or other chemicals)
As well as practical aspects:
Exercises using pharmacokinetic data, so that main pharmacokinetic parameters that characterize a drug after administration to patient will be covered,
Drug metabolism will be studied using softwares predicting biotransformation reactions undergone by drugs with regard to their chemical structure.
Possible toxicity of drugs or other xenobiotics will be studied using a software predictive of structural alerts.
Description of other methods (experimental) of drug ADME or toxicity study.

Prior Experience

Good knowledge in physiology, biochemistry and chemistry (mainly organic chemistry)

Type of Assessment for UE in Q1

• Written examination

Q1 UE Assessment Comments

The exam will be a written exam in 2020-2021.

Type of Assessment for UE in Q3

• Written examination

Q3 UE Assessment Comments

The exam will be a written exam in 2020-2021.

Type of Resit Assessment for UE in Q1 (BAB1)

• N/A

Q1 UE Resit Assessment Comments (BAB1)

These lessons are not given in BAB1.