Courses Taught by Dr. Croyle
PHM 387M - Physical and Chemical Principles of Drugs
Many significant advances made in the pharmaceutical sciences in recent years are, in large part, attributable to the accelerated development of knowledge of the molecular structure and physicochemical properties of drugs. The correlation of this knowledge with that of the nature of biological reactions of drugs is paramount to the practice of modern pharmacy in retail, clinical and industrial settings. This course will review certain topics presented in various general and physical chemistry courses taken in the pre-pharmacy curriculum and address how these topics influence the safety, effectiveness and reliability of medicinal products. This knowledge will assist the pharmacy student in the critical evaluation and preparation of dosage forms prior to dispensing them to a patient and will form a basis for understanding concepts in biopharmaceutics and pharmacokinetics introduced later in the curriculum.
PHM 187P - Physical and Chemical Principles of Drugs Laboratory
The laboratory section of this course is designed to provide pharmacy students with a forum in which they can apply theoretical principles described in the lecture portion of the course to situations they will encounter as pharmacists and/or pharmaceutical scientists. Upon completion of the laboratory assignments, students will develop superior problem solving skills and understand the role that physical pharmacy plays in the daily practice of pharmacy.
PGS 382V - Pharmaceutical Biotechnology
With the completion of the Human Genome project just in the horizon, the entire face of medicine as we know it will change considerably. Treatment strategies will involve the use of the traditional chemical entities (i.e. drugs) as well as recombinant proteins and genetic material (RNA, DNA). This course is designed to provide pharmaceutics graduate students with a survey of the current technology used in basic science and the pharmaceutical industry to develop new medicines for the 21st century. After completing this course, students should be able to:
select and evaluate appropriate in vitro and in vivo models by which to test novel formulations or delivery methods
understand the rationale and theory behind common techniques in the biotechnology field and use them to solve problems routinely encountered in the biotech industry
understand how the immune system works and how this influences the development of recombinant DNA therapeutics
appreciate that modern therapeutics derived from the application of genetic techniques are often difficult to produce and handle but are highly specific for their biological sites of activity
understand the concept of gene therapy, where the field is currently, and how the pharmaceutical scientist can play a significant role in development of a product to treat a genetic disease
effectively interface with scientists involved in large scale production and processing of biological products with respect to formulation development and final product characterization
PGS 380M - Experimental Design
This course offers a practical approach to designing efficient experiments to answer cutting-edge hypotheses in the translational and basic sciences and fashioning the results into successful proposals. Students are expected to evaluate data sets and use them to develop successful academic and business project proposals to obtain funding to support their current research projects and/or their own research programs after graduation.
Upon completion of this course, students will: a) Identify a dissertation problem, b) Identify funding sources/what kind of funding is needed to support their research project, c) Understand the basic elements of grant proposal writing and effectively incorporate them into a solid thesis project proposal suitable for submission to a foundation/granting institution of their choice, d) Develop skills to evaluate grant proposals and provide useful feedback in both written and oral formats.
Upon completion of the course, students are encouraged to submit their final written proposal to an appropriate funding agency for graduate support. To date, 40% of the students that have taken the course have successfully obtained funding to support their own independent research projects.
Laboratory Problems Course in Pharmaceutics
Problems courses are available for graduate and undergraduate students interested in gaining first hand experience in pharmaceutical research.
Dr. Croyle is currently offering Laboratory Problems courses in research pertaining to the immunology of recombinant viral vectors for gene therapy. Trainees will be exposed to cutting edge, interdisciplinary research relevant to the fields of cell biology, virology and immunology, while sharpening basic skills in pharmaceutics and drug delivery. Hypothesis development and open-ended problem solving skills will be emphasized. Contact Dr. Croyle for further information about participation in this course.