New courses in drug development meet industrial needs
As academic hub in the competence center SweDeliver, the Faculty of Pharmacy is consolidating its already advanced position in drug delivery. Currently a new step is taken with a series of four courses that respond to the field's extensive need for future competence.
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Efficient drug delivery is one of the main challenges of modern pharmacy. Several potential drug molecules show poor solubility and low bioavailability and both academia and industry are in need of new knowledge and future competence. Since 2020, a selection of Scandinavia's leading pharmaceutical companies unite in SweDeliver - a competence center in drug delivery where the Faculty of Pharmacy is academic hub - and now the next step is taken with the launch of four new courses in the field.
(Image removed) Per Larsson, Faculty of Pharmacy
“Modern drug formulation turns more and more towards targeted drugs and individualised treatments, which in turn requires methods that predict how active substances will act in a human body. This is a scientific field on the rise in which Uppsala University has a very strong research environment with skilled teachers. Starting this autumn, we will invest our resources in courses that respond directly to current needs,” says Per Larsson, course leader and associate senior lecturer.
The coursesare primarily aimed at students at advanced and master's level, but also professional pharmacists are expected to find great value in the content. Preparations are still in progress, and the ambition is to, in addition to the faculty's own researchers, engage some of the industry's leading experts as guest lecturers.
“Course participants can expect up-to-date presentations from the absolute forefront of the field. How research with modern technology creates and builds carrier systems with the capacity to transport drugs past the body's biological barriers. This is an interdisciplinary field where we, by covering a broad front, will provide understanding of strategies and methods in a number of current topics,” says Per Larsson.
The course Advanced Drug Delivery, starting in early autumn focuses on laboratory models and advanced systems for drug delivery. The course is intended to be read in combination with Patient-Centred Drug Delivery, which among many things sheds light on 3D printing of drugs. In early winter, Introduction to Nanomedicine and Computational Pharmaceutics will follow, all courses comprising 7.5 higher education credits each.
“The courses we are now creating will provide essential knowledge for students in pharmacy, biomedicine, drug development, computational pharmaceutics and related subjects. By giving them online, we hope to welcome participants from all over the country. These are disciplines in constant development and the employers' need for the skills we provide will undoubtedly persist,” states Per Larsson.
CONTINUE READING
- Nya kurser i läkemedelsutveckling (Link removed) (in Swedish)
- The Faculty of Pharmacy freestanding courses (Link removed)
- Drugs in the Environment one of many new freestanding courses at the Faculty of Pharmacy
- The Faculty of Pharmacy's educations (in Swedish)
CONTACT
(Image removed) Per Larsson, The Faculty of Pharmacy
Course leader, Associate senior lecturer
per.larsson@farmaci.uu.se
text: Magnus Alsne, photo: Mikael Wallerstedt, Matton