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Objectives of the course: Going deeper in major aspects of "Pharmacokinetics" as well as the connection between "pharmacokinetics" and "pharmacodynamics".
Contents of the course: Lessons will be given in relation to the following subjects:
- Clearance, Volume of distribution, Half-Life
- How Drugs Cleared by the Liver
- Bioavailability and First-Class Clearance
- Predicting Drug Interactions and the Effects of Disease States for Metabolised Drugs
- Clearance of Drugs by the Kidneys
- Drug Protein Binding
- Non-Linear Pharmacokinetics
- How to Determine the Pharmacokinetic Parameters of a Drug
- Pharmacodynamics: The Concentration-Effect Relationship
- Designing Dose Regimens
- Therapeutic Drug Monitoring
In addition, pharmacokinetic problems are solved using simple equations.
Mode and outcomes of teaching: The 3-weeks course is built on different axes: lectures, practical and educational - calculation software.
At the end of the course the students should be able to calculate pharmacokinetic parameters for a clinical study, prepare figures from PK data, estimate and understand PK parameters from a clinical study. Student will use data from clinical studies conducted in the Department of Pharmacology.
Hours of training per student: 26
From the 5th Semester
ECTS: 2
Aim of the course: The presentation of the main experimental techniques and methodologies applied for the development of new drugs. Also, the principles followed in the preclinical and clinical trials of drugs are presented.
Course Content: This subject includes various experimental models used for the in vivo and in vitro studies of the preclinical screening of a new drug. It also presents the different animals species used in several experimental approaches of pharmacological and toxicological studies and the conditions required for their optimal development and preservation. The biochemical, molecular and other biological controls of the effectiveness and potential toxicity of a new drug are presented. Several behavioral experimental settings for testing the possible central action of a new drug are included, along with the basic principles and processes of the biotechnological synthesis and production of new drugs and diagnostics. Information on the basic principles of clinical trials and gene therapy is also provided.
Teaching and assessment of students: The course includes lectures with power point presentations and visits to the Animal House of the University of Ioannina in groups of five persons. During these visits students are trained in experimental animal physiology and handling. Visits in major pharmaceutical companies are organized in the framework of this course. The assessment of students is based on the power point presentation of a bibliographic search on new pharmaceutical approaches to diseases and on their knowledge on the "Development of New Drugs."
Hours of training per student: 26
From the 5th Semester
ECTS: 2
Objective: To comprehend the basis of clinical genetic diagnosis, the prediction and prevention of genetic disorders and genetic counseling.
Course content: Most common monogenic disorders in clinical practice. Common polygenic and complex disorders, patterns of inheritance and clinical manifestation. Chromosomal abnormalities in clinical practice. Clinical and genetic history-clinical aspects of genetic counseling. Clinical disorders of sex development and differentiation. Clinical genetics and investigation of pregnancy loss. Clinical genetics and assisted reproduction. Biochemical markers of fetal abnormalities in maternal blood and ultrasound evaluation of congenital abnormalities. Non-invasive prenatal diagnosis-clinical application. Clinical genetic databases in genetic counseling.
Methods and teaching outcomes: This course provides teaching in combination with clinical and laboratory training and projects for the student. The student will be able to construct a family tree and to recognize patterns of inheritance in genetic diseases and to provide patients with appropriate to diagnostic and predictive tests.
Hours of training per student: 26
Semester: 4th
ECTS: 2
Course objectives: Human body's adaptation limits and mechanisms to extreme environmental physico-chemical changes and introduction to the identification of medical problems attributed to environmental causes.
Course content: Basic principles of Environmental Physiology and environmental stress. Adaptation and comparative physiology. Biorythms and hormonal adaptation. Extreme temperatures and adaptation mechanisms. Cardio-pulmonary function at extreme heights, diving depths and space flights. Effects of high acceleration and gravitational changes and adaptation mechanisms. Chemical environment and respiratory function in presence of toxic pollutants . Environmental stress and nervous system. Environmental toxicity targeting reproductive system's function. Effects of ionizing and non ionizing irradiations. Immunological mechanisms against toxic and carcinogenic environmental factors. Occupational environment and myoskeletal problems. Environmental causes of cardiovascular and urinary system dysfunction. Nutritional stress and digestive system. Essential and toxic trace metals. Terroristic attacks and hazards. Environmental standards regulations and environmental health. Environmental medicine and doctors' assignment .
Teaching methods and outcomes: Lectures addressed to students and discussion on certain physiology issues. Students are also encountered in presentations of group-works, out of a list of environmental physiology items, towards their fellow students and their supervisor , during which are invited to answer relevant questions. The lesson attributes to integrated knowledge on human body adaptation mechanisms and reserves as well as to an introduction to diagnosis and therapy of medical issues emerged due to exposure to extreme environmental factors.
Hours of training per student: 26
Semester: 5th
ECTS: 2
Objectives of the course: Understanding the molecular mechanisms by which Free Radicals and other Reactive Oxygen Species are involved in the initiation and the development of serious pathological conditions, such as cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, ischemia reperfusion syndrome and the normal process ageing.
Contents: Introduction to Free Radicals: Definition and chemical properties of free radicals. Oxidative Stress. Formation of Free Radicals in cells. Biochemical mechanisms of free radical-induced cytotoxicity. Defense mechanisms in cells. Reactive Oxygen Species as physiological mediators in signal transduction. Oxidative stress and apoptosis.
Teaching format and learning outcomes: Teaching is implemented through lectures. Students are expected to familiarize with molecular mechanisms of generation and removal of Free Radicals and other Reactive Oxygen Species in the cells. In this context, it is important for the students to consolidate that Free Radicals and Oxidative Stress are implicated in the induction and development of serious pathological conditions.
Hours of training per student: 26
Semester: 4th
ECTS: 2