HI 5001 Advances in Computer-aided Drug Discovery and Protein Modeling

The aim of this course is to cover the basic foundations of protein modeling and computer-aided drug discovery, and from there to review the latest advances in the field (within the last two years).  This course is aimed to students in biomedical sciences, and to those in chemistry and physics who want to study biological applications.  The course combines lecturing with review of the current literature, followed by a written report and presentation of a selected research paper.

Course Objectives:
By the end of the course, the student will have learned about:
•    The theoretical foundations of protein modeling and in silico drug design, and their role in the drug discovery process.
•    How in silico techniques complement and interface with experimental ones.
•    The latest developments in the field.

Topic
Protein structure
Introduction to molecular modeling
Protein modeling
In silico ligand-based drug discovery
In silico structure-based drug discovery (I)
In silico structure-based drug discovery (II)
Distribution of research papers to review
Discussion about papers
Discussion about papers
Discussion about papers
Discussion about papers
Discussion about papers
Paper presentation
Paper presentation

Prerequisites

Knowledge of basic concepts in Bioinformatics.  Permission of the Instructor.