PLEASE NOTE: This course has had a change of code - up to and including 2009 it was PHPH9118.

Material in this course is complementary to PHAR9107 and aims to provide a basis for understanding the mechanisms involved in the disordered physiology that underlies common disease states. The object is to provide an understanding of those disorders that are amenable to correction or amelioration with drug therapy. It thus provides a rationale for drug design and utilisation. The course consists of four main sections. Section 1 deals with cellular growth and differentiation including control of cell growth, extra cellular matrix and cell-matrix interactions, and cellular adaptations of growth and differentiation. Section 2 deals with neoplasia and includes definitions and nomenclature, characteristics of benign and malignant neoplasms, epidemiology, molecular basis of cancer, biology of tumour growth, carcinogenic agents and their cellular interactions, host defence mechanisms, and clinical features of tumours. Section 3 covers genetic disorders and includes a brief section on the ‘new genetics’, mutations, Mendelian disorders, disorders with multifactorial inheritance, normal karyotype cytogenetic disorders, single-gene disorders with non-classic inheritance, and molecular diagnosis. Aspects of molecular biology relevant to the preceding topics (e.g. gene therapy) are also discussed. Finally Section 4 deals with infection and includes a brief introduction to microbiology, general principles of microbial pathogenesis, discussion of selected human infectious diseases and introduces the concept of anti-infective therapeutics.

Note: The course is elective for Programme 9060.