Translational Informatics in Drug Discovery

Biochemistry in Disease II
Biochem 464 | Biochem 564 | Biomed 554
Developed and administered by the Division of Biocomputing, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
February 2011

This course will consist of three one-hour topics, designed to enable the practitioner to understand drug action, and to link drugs, targets and clinical outcomes.

The course will include two 75-minute sessions designed to assist individuals in developing communication skills, and how to summarize scientific information. Each of you must prepare and give a presentation in front of the class based on a topic related to this course.

Goal of this Course

  • To learn how to find and process relevant information
  • To learn how to transform information into knowledge
  • Less then a decade after its launch, we now “google” everything. We rarely question the validity of the first 10 hits, if the information is true or if it’s simply popular. Learn to go to the source, to cross-check information from multiple references and, on occasion, apply common sense to question everything (yourself too).
  • We need to learn to seek accurate information, to process it and organize it in a manner that is coherent.
  • “Read between the lines” is the art of finding hidden samples of truth beyond what people call obvious.
  • In science and in the medical arts, seeking the hidden can lead to discovery, to cure, or both.
  • Learn to think for yourselves! Allow creation to happen.

Syllabus | Online course materials (password required)