An introduction to clinical research and drug development for pharmacy and pharmacology graduate students

Recently at the University of Houston College of Pharmacy, a new course was introduced to provide an overview of each phase of drug development research, from the initial chemistry assays and cell biologystudies to animal experiments and finally clinical trials for drug approval. The course, entitled "Clinical Research and Drug Development," is a three-credit elective introduced this past yearfor the entry-level Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) students and graduate students during the summer session at the college. Overall, the intent of this course is to develop students' interest in the topic of clinical research and drug development and provide a foundation of knowledge of basic research skills used in the drug development process. The approach for this course was to break the topics into three general modules: laboratory techniques, both analytical and cell biology/molecular, used in the drug development process; aspects of clinical research process; and writing grants and protocols. Throughout the course, students were strongly encouraged to consider pursuing independent research projects to help continue to develop their research skills in preparation for postgraduate training. As a result, on completion of the course, four students requested an opportunity to complete an independent research project. This course has introduced the various components of drug development and of conducting clinical research to students in the PharmD and graduate programs at the University of Houston College of Pharmacy.