The Center for Drug Discovery sponsors the following courses in association with Northeastern University:

PSC G222: The Chemistry and Biology of Drugs of Abuse 3 SH

This course provides an interdisciplinary introduction to substance abuse including the medicinal chemistry and neurobiology of drugs that act through the opioid, dopamine, acetylcholine, and cannabinoid systems. Neurochemical mechanisms that are common to many addictive agents, and those that are specific to individual drug classes, are compared and contrasted. The involvement of the brain dopamine system is highlighted, and differences and similarities between the pharmacology of abused and therapeutic drugs are discussed, together with the development of medications for treating drug dependence. The course includes lectures by experts on particular topics on their own recent research. Students are introduced to key aspects of biological and chemical research as they pertain to drug abuse and its treatment.

Prereq. BIO G300 or CHM G376 or PSY140

PSC G224 Behavioral Pharmacology and Drug Discovery 2 SH

This course prepares students to understand the advantages, shortcomings and pitfalls of the use of live, behaving animals in drug discovery. The material covered includes an in-depth analysis of ethical issues in animal research. Other general topics include: aspects of animal behavioral models; behavior and brain biochemistry, and methods of behavioral analysis. Specific topics include: psychopharmacology; fear and anxiety; pain and stress; depression and reward; general arousal, and tolerance, drug abuse and habitual behaviors. The ways in which animal behaviors can be described in a quantitative manner and the effects of medications and abused drugs quantified and related to human diseases and drug responses, are an important component of the course.

Prereq. PSC G100 and CHM G200 or PSC G212

PSC G226 Imaging in Medicine and Drug Discovery 2 SH

This course prepares students to understand modern non-invasive medical imaging modalities, principally positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), used in metabolic and functional studies. The course reviews the basic science of magnetic resonance and radioactivity and radiation measurement, as well as tracer kinetics, but concentrates on applications. Topics covered include a survey of clinical radiological studies; clinical and preclinical human drug discovery and development research involving imaging, and the development and uses of radiopharmaceuticals and other contrast agents for imaging modalities including x-rays and ultrasound as well as PET and MRI.