Neuropharmacology
Teaching hours and weekly schedule
This is a 2nd semester elective course of about 2.5 weeks that corresponds to 4 ECTs and 31 total hours of teaching including student presentations.
Co-ordinators
- Christina Dalla
Assistant Professor of Psychopharmacology, Dept. of Pharmacology, Medical School, NKUA
- Nikolaos Kokras
Psychiatrist/Psychopharmacologist, Dept. of Pharmacology, Medical School of Athens, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
Description:
This is an intensive 2.5-week course focused on neuropsychopharmacology that includes lectures from pharmacologists, clinicians, neuroscientists and other specialties. The course will also accommodate student’s presentations on specific neuropharmacological issues, as well as written-exercises on pharmacological experimental design.
The lectures will focus on basic principles of pharmacology (such as pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics), information on drug design and discovery, treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders, as well as drug-induced changes in functioning of the nervous system. Additionally, the lecturers will give an overview of the techniques and models used for the study of neuropharmacology, as well as the basics of CNS clinical research, including regulations and statistical principles.
The goal is that students will become accustomed with neuropsychiatric treatment, modelling and research. Ultimately, they will be able to pose relevant neuropharmacological questions and contribute to the design of preclinical and clinical studies.
Course Overview
The course will include lectures on drug design/discovery, as well as principles of neuropharmacology preclinical and clinical studies. Students will have the opportunity to present specific neuropharmacological issues, as well as to perform written-exercises on pharmacological experimental design and analysis.
Most importantly, an interactive approach, with the use of poll-machines, will be used for the teaching of the neuropharmacological basis, study and mechanism of action of:
- Antipsychotics
- Antidepressant drugs and mood stabilizers
- Antiepileptics
- Cognitive enhancers
- Drugs of abuse
- Antiparkinsonian drugs and drugs for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases
- Neuroimaging ligands
Skills and Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
- Understand basic pharmacological principles
- Know about most classes of neuropharmacology drugs
- Know about adverse effects, drug interactions and genomics of CNS-acting drugs
- Identify new targets for CNS treatments and pose relevant questions
- Understand the methods used in preclinical and clinical neuropharmacology
- Contribute to the design of preclinical and clinical neuropharmacology studies
Titles of lectures and names of the lecturers
A/A | Neuropharmacology | Lecturer |
1 | Introduction and assignments | Christina Dalla, Stella Vlachou |
2 | Drug design/discovery | Dimitrios Vassilatis |
3 | Pharmacokinetics/Pharmacodynamics | Nikos Kokras |
4 | Neuroimaging ligands | Ioannis Pirmettis |
5 | Treatment of Neurodegenerative disorders (PD) and new targets | Neny Pervanidou |
6 | Neurodevelopmental disorders (ADHD, autism etc) and treatment | Leonidas Stefanis |
7 | The use of novel analytical techniques in medical research and drug discovery | Antonis Tsarbopoulos |
8 | Pharmacokinetics/Pharmacodynamics | Nikos Kokras |
9 | Antiepileptics | Christina Dalla, Marinos Sotiropoulos |
10 | Treatment of Neurodegenerative disorders (MS) and new targets | Harris Alexopoulos |
11 | Neuropsycho-pharmacogenomics | Dimitris Dikaios |
12 | Treatment of Neurodegenerative disorders (AD) and new targets | Ioannis Sotiropoulos |
13 | Neurobiology of Addiction, Alcohol | Foteini Delli |
14 | CNS Stimulants, Cannabis | Katerina Antoniou and Alexia Polissidis |
15 | Addiction and Nicotine | Stella Vlachou |
16 | Opioids and Psychedelics | Alexia Polissidis |
17 | Antipsychotics and lithium | Nikos Kokras |
18 | Anxiolytics and Antidepressants | Nikos Kokras, Christina Dalla |
19 | Pharmacoepidemiology | Giota Touloumi |
20 | Basics in clinical research | Eirini Griva |
