Drug Discovery

This course provides an opportunity for students to design experiments and carry out independent research projects in the area of neurodegenerative disorders. Student projects are aimed to study the pathophysiology of Alzheimer¿s disease and related neurodegenerative disorders by various techniques such as designing novel small molecules and peptides by computational chemistry. Furthermore, the interactions between small molecules/peptides with misfolded proteins/peptides will be evaluated by biochemical and biophysical techniques with emphasis on fluorescence spectroscopy and ligand-protein kinetic studies. Microscopy techniques including transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis will be studied. Students will be trained in using the computational chemistry software Discovery Studio Structure-Based-Design. Individual student projects may include compound characterization by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), high performance-liquid chromatography (HPLC) and liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS) techniques. Students are expected to spend between 10-11 weeks in the research lab working on their assigned projects. Course re-requisite include completion and proof of safety training including WHMIS, workplace violence training and safety orientation.