George Mason University – Graduate Council
Graduate Course Approval Form
All courses numbered 500 or above must be submitted to the Graduate Council for final approval after approval by the
sponsoring College, School or Institute.
Graduate Council requires submission of this form for a new course or any change to existing courses. For a new course,
please attach a copy of the syllabus and catalog description (with catalog credit format, e.g. 3:2:1). The designated
representative of the College, School or Institute should forward the form along with the syllabus and catalog description,
if required, as an email attachment (in one file) to the secretary of the Graduate Council. A printed copy of the form with
signatures and the attachments should be brought to the Graduate Council meeting. Please complete the Graduate Course
Coordinator Form if the proposed changes will affect other units.
Note: Colleges, Schools or Institutes are responsible for submitting new or modified catalog descriptions (35 words or
less, using catalog format) to Creative Services by deadlines outlined in the yearly Catalog production calendar.
Please indicate: New___X____
Modify_______
Delete_______
Department/Unit: ___Chemistry and Biochemistry___
Course Subject/Number: CHEM 662
Submitted by:____Dr. Robin Couch____________ Ext:__3-8462_________ Email:____rcouch@gmu.edu______
Course Title:_______ Modern Methods of Drug Discovery ___________________
Effective Term (New/Modified Courses only): ____Fall 2007_____ Final Term (deleted courses only):____________
Credit Hours: (Fixed) ___3__
(Var.) ______
to ______
Grade Type (check one): __X__Regular graduate (A, B, C, etc.)
_____
_____
Satisfactory/No Credit only
Special graduate (A, B, C, etc. + IP)
Repeat Status*(check one): _X__ NR-Not repeatable ____ RD-Repeatable within degree ____ RT-Repeatable
within term
*Note: Used only for special topics, independent study, or internships courses
Total Number of Hours Allowed: _______
Schedule Type Code(s): 1._LEC_ LEC=Lecture SEM=Seminar STU=Studio INT=Internship
IND=Independent Study
2.____ LAB=Lab RCT=Recitation (second code used
only for courses with Lab or Rct component)
Prereq _X__ Coreq ___ (Check one):_____CHEM 463 (or equivalent), or permission of instructor.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Note: Modified courses - review prereq or coreq for necessary changes; Deleted courses - review other courses to correct prereqs that list the deleted course.
Description of Modification (for modified courses):____________________________________________________________________
Special Instructions (major/college/class code restrictions, if needed):__________________________________________
Department/Unit Approval Signature:_________________________________________ Date: _____________
College/School Committee Approval Signature:__________________________________ Date:_____________
Graduate Council Approval Date:____________ Provost Office Signature:_________________________________
George Mason University
Graduate Course Coordination Form
Approval from other units:
Please list those units outside of your own who may be affected by this new, modified, or deleted course. Each
of these units must approve this change prior to its being submitted to the Graduate Council for approval.
Unit:
Bioinformatics and
Computational Biology
Head of Unit’s Signature: CHEM 662
Date:
Unit:
Head of Unit’s Signature: CHEM 662
Date:
Unit:
Head of Unit’s Signature:
Date:
Unit:
Head of Unit’s Signature:
Date:
Unit:
Head of Units Signature:
Date:
Molecular and Microbiology
Graduate Council approval: ______________________________________________ Date: ____________
Graduate Council representative: __________________________________________
Date: ____________
Provost Office representative: ____________________________________________
Date: ____________
Course Proposal Submitted to the Graduate Council
by
The Chemistry and Biochemistry Department
1. COURSE NUMBER AND TITLE:
CHEM 662 – Modern Methods of Drug Discovery; 3:3:0
Prerequisites: CHEM 463 (or equivalent), or permission of instructor.
Catalog Description: Introduction to the process of drug discovery. Covers modern methods and strategies of
target identification, lead identification, and lead optimization.
2. COURSE JUSTIFICATION:
Course Objectives: After taking this course students should have an understanding of the methods and
strategies involved in the drug discovery process including (1) methods used to identify potential drug targets,
(2) approaches to screening for lead molecules, (3) sources of lead molecules, (4) lead optimization, and (5)
the future directions of drug development, including the promise of personalized medicine.
Course Necessity: This course introduces essential concepts required for graduate research in the area of drug
design, such as that performed by Chemistry and Biochemistry graduate students in the M.S and Physical
Sciences Ph.D. programs, and graduate students in the Bioinformatics and Biodefense Ph.D. programs.
Course Relationship to Existing Programs: The proposed course provides essential content for students in
the Biochemistry area of concentration within the Chemistry and Biochemistry M.S and Physical Sciences
Ph.D. programs. The course may also be of interest to medicinal (synthetic) chemists in the Chemistry and
Biochemistry Department, as well advanced students in Molecular and Microbial Biology. This course will be
available to graduate students in the Biodefense program with an interest in drug design. This course will also
be accessible to graduate students in the Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Department.
Course Relationship to Existing Courses: A similar course is currently available in the Biodefense Program,
BIOD 765, but this course has never been taught and is in the process of being deleted according to Charlie
Bailey. CHEM 662 will essentially replace BIOD 765 and will be available to graduate students in the
Biodefense, Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Bioinformatics and Computational Biology programs. This
course was previously offered as "BINF 739 - Topics in Drug Discovery" and was well subscribed by students
in the Bioinformatics and Biodefense program.
3. APPROVAL HISTORY: This course has been approved by the Department of Chemistry and
Biochemistry.
4. SCHEDULING AND PROPOSED INSTRUCTORS:
Semester of Initial Offering: Fall 2007
Proposed Instructors: Dr. Robin Couch, Dr. Saleet Jafri, Dr. Vijayasarathy Srinivasan.
5. TENTATIVE SYLLABUS: See attached.
Syllabus
CHEM 662
Modern Methods of Drug Discovery
Instructors: Dr. Robin Couch, Dr. Saleet Jafri, Dr. Vijayasarathy Srinivasan
Course description:
An introduction to the process of drug discovery. In this course we will cover modern methods and strategies of
drug target identification, lead molecule identification, and lead optimization.
Student learning goals:
After taking this course you should have an understanding of the methods and strategies involved in the drug
discovery process including (1) methods used to identify potential drug targets, (2) approaches to screening for
lead molecules, (3) sources of lead molecules, including natural products, synthetic libraries, and in silico
structure-based molecules, (4) lead optimization, and (5) the future directions of drug development, including
the promise of personalized medicine.
Required course materials:
Abbreviated lecture notes are available for download at www.gmu.edu/departments/chemistry. You will be
expected to supplement these lecture notes during class discussions. Additional handouts will also be provided
during class. Modern Methods of Drug Discovery, edited by Alexander Hillisch and Rolf Hilgenfeld, Enzymes
(second edition) by Robert A. Copeland, Chemoinformatics in Drug Discovery, edited by Tudor I. Oprea, and
Bioinformatics and Drug Discovery, edited by Richard S. Larson are the textbooks upon which this course is
primarily based. However, since the lecture notes will be provided, the purchase of these textbooks is
optional.
Requirements and methods of evaluation:
Your grade will be based on one Midterm Exam (35%), one Research Project (25%) and a Final Exam
(40%). The Final Exam is cumulative.
Your research project will consist of a written report describing the development of an inhibitor designed to
bind to a known protein.
Presentation/Lecture List
Week 1
Course Overview, Policies and Procedures.
Lecture 1: Modern Methods of Drug Discovery: An Introduction. (RC)
Week 2
Lecture 2: Methods to Identify Potential Drug Targets: a) Proteomics. (RC)
Week 3
Lecture 3: Methods to Identify Potential Drug Targets: b) Genomics (Microarrays). (SJ)
Week 4
Lecture 4: Methods to Identify Potential Drug Targets: c) Bioinformatics. (SJ)
Week 5
Lecture 5: Target Validation. (RC)
Week 6
Midterm exam (RC)
Week 7
Lecture 6: Drug Lead Identification: Rational Design, High Throughput Screening,
Natural Products, and Synthetic Libraries. (RC)
Week 8
Lecture 7: Drug Lead Identification: In silico Structure-Based Molecules. (RC)
Week 9
Lecture 8: Lead Optimization: Physiochemical Concepts in Drug Design. (RC)
Week 10
Lecture 9: 3D-QSAR. (SJ)
Week 11
Lecture 10: Tuberculosis and Drug Design. (VS)
Week 12
Lecture 11: Malaria and Drug Design. (VS)
Week 13
Lecture 12: The Future of Drug Design; Review; Research Project Due (RC)
Week 14
Final Exam (RC)