Pharmacology course centered on team science gives insight into translational research
Translational research and therapeutics course teaches trainees all steps of pharmaceutical development
Oct. 12, 2022 — The tiny pill you swallow to manage high blood pressure or keep your blood sugar in check probably took decades and billions of dollars to develop. Students at the UF College of Medicine aiming for careers in academic science or the pharmaceutical industry are learning the ins and outs of this yearslong, highly regulated field to understand the most effective ways to treat patients, from the lab bench to the hospital bedside.
Translational Research and Therapeutics: Bench, Bedside, Community and Policy — a class developed by pharmacology department faculty and Jeffrey Martens, Ph.D., chair of the department of pharmacology and therapeutics — gives students a crash course in the research, marketing and regulation of pharmaceuticals. The course serves as a foundation for Ph.D. candidates in the pharmacology concentration in the Graduate Program in Biomedical Sciences and for students in the TL1 and CTSA certificate programs in the Clinical and Translational Science Institute serving the College of Medicine and beyond.
“One great thing about the course is its multidisciplinary nature,” Martens said. “It’s not just for those who are studying pharmacology; it’s also for M.D.-Ph.D. students, along with students in nursing, engineering and even the department of mathematics. I think that speaks to the team-based aspect of the class, which is a big emphasis for us. In science today, you have to work in teams with diverse expertise. That varied knowledge and background really adds value to the experience of the class.”
Martens, in partnership with Wayne McCormack, Ph.D., a distinguished teaching scholar and professor in the department of pathology, immunology and laboratory medicine, developed the course as part of a curriculum revamp following Martens’ appointment as department chair in 2014.
“At the time, I was planning to develop a new course for Ph.D. students that took a much deeper dive into how clinical and translational research is done compared to the other course we had been offering, so when I learned of the interest by Dr. Martens and colleagues in developing a similar course, I jumped at the opportunity to collaborate with them,” McCormack said.
The translational research and therapeutics course has a unique structure unlike programs at other colleges, including fewer didactic lessons, a greater emphasis on applying team science skills and providing a bird’s eye view of each component of the translational research process within a single course. More than a dozen faculty members at the College of Medicine teach the students throughout the duration of the class, which includes learning about clinical trials as well as outcomes and public health policy.
“Incorporating team-based learning activities and team projects gives our students opportunities to immediately apply what they are learning via lectures and readings to problem-solving and experimental design situations, not just remember information for exams,” McCormack said. “That is what they will need to be able to do in the future as leaders of their own research teams.”
Ph.D. candidate Victoria Leroy, who is interested in pursuing a career in life sciences consulting, took the course during the first semester of her doctoral studies and said it opened her eyes to the different considerations that need to be made along the way for a drug’s development and success.
Leroy teamed up with classmates to design a mock treatment, develop clinical trials, undergo the Food and Drug Administration approval process and market it to patients.
“A lot of people don’t understand the time and money it takes to get pharmaceuticals to market,” she said. “For example, when actually getting it to market, you need to consider patient adherence and whether they will actually be interested in taking it, depending on factors like side effects and costs.”
As someone who is not planning on a career in clinical research, Leroy said she felt that partnering with her classmates helped bring together a variety of perspectives and knowledge needed to design a successful project in the class.
“It truly is a team effort to get from bench to bedside,” she said.
