Online Course – Certified Professional Internship in Drug Hunting: The Science of Making New Drugs by Coursera, Novartis

Understanding the drug discovery and development process, including research phases, clinical trials, and regulation, with an emphasis on innovation and scientific discoveries in the field of medicine.

Suggested by: Coursera (What is Coursera?)

Professional Certificate

Intermediate level

No prior knowledge required

Time to complete the course

7-day free trial

No unnecessary risks

Skills you will acquire in the course

  • In-depth understanding of the early drug discovery process
  • Ability to search for medications
  • Knowledge of pharmaceutical goals and trials
  • Skill in screening and selecting leads
  • Understanding optimization and pharmacokinetics
  • Knowledge of early drug safety
  • Ability to develop pharmaceutical formulations
  • Self-paced independent learning skills
  • Ability to analyze problems and strengthen understanding of complex issues

What you will learn in the course

Courses for which the course is suitable

  • Pharmaceutical researcher
  • Healthcare Data Scientist
  • Project Manager in the field of drug development
  • Clinical Analyst
  • Pharmacology specialist
  • Clinical Trials Manager
  • Formulation Engineer
  • Drug Discovery Consultant
  • Research doctor
  • Medical Product Development Manager

Internship – 6-part course series

In partnership with Davidson College, this internship is designed for a graduate-level audience with a life sciences background who is interested in learning about early drug discovery.

Early drug discovery is a complex, challenging, and iterative process that aims to find new drugs that address unmet medical needs. The science and considerations behind this process are covered in an online specialization consisting of 6 courses:

  • Introduction to drug discovery
  • Goals and experiments
  • Filtering and selecting carriers
  • Optimization and pharmacokinetics
  • Early safety
  • Formulation development

The specialization is carried out at a personal pace, with each course consisting of short 5-minute videos, accompanied by additional readings and problems designed to strengthen and deepen the understanding of these topics.

Hands-on Learning Project

Learners will develop their knowledge of early drug discovery through a combination of short 5-minute videos, accompanied by additional readings and problems designed to reinforce and deepen understanding of these topics.

Details of the courses that make up the specialization

Introduction to drug hunting

  • Course 1

    Duration: 9 hours

    Rating: 4.9 (42 ratings)

    What you will learn: Preclinical drug discovery stages and clinical trials; introduction to the topic of drug hunting.

    Skills you will acquire: Drug discovery

  • Course 2

    Duration: 8 hours

    What you will learn: Promising compounds used in the hunt for new drugs. Types of experiments and methods for screening molecular libraries.

  • Course 3

    Duration: 12 hours

    Rating: 4.9 (27 ratings)

    What you will learn: An overview of administration routes, ADME (absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion), and the use of time-course drug concentration data.

    Skills you will acquire: Drug discovery

  • Course 4

    Duration: 6 hours

    Rating: 5.0 (13 ratings)

    What you will learn: Patient safety in drug discovery programs, toxicological and safety trials.

    Skills you will acquire: Drug development

  • Course 5

    Duration: 8 hours

    What you will learn: Identifying promising compounds, determining optimal properties, and accelerating processes towards the clinic.

    Skills you will acquire: Drug discovery

  • Course 6

    Duration: 8 hours

    Rating: 4.7 (12 ratings)

    What you will learn: Developing active compounds into dosage-appropriate formulas.

    Skills you will acquire: Drug discovery