Introduction to Metabolism and Pharmacology (C7135)

15 credits, Level 4

Spring teaching

This module aims to introduce you to the general principles of metabolism and pharmacology. The initial lectures cover ATP, substrate-level phosphorylation, Chemiosmosis and oxidative phosphorylation, glycolysis, and the the Krebs cycle. This is complemented by lectures covering glycogen, nucleotide and lipid metabolism, introducing metabolic flux with exercise as an example. Anti-metabolites, anti-cancer drugs and G protein agonist and antagonists will be discussed as examples of therapeutic intervention. The pharmacology aspects of the module will cover how drugs act at receptors, ion channels and specific enzymes, their molecular targets and the underlying cellular mechanisms of action. It will cover methods and measurement in pharmacology and the absorption and distribution of drugs, their elimination and pharmacokinetics.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 33 hours of contact time and about 117 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2023/24. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to COVID-19, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum. We’ll make sure to let our applicants know of material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.