Skip to Content
Course

Present and Future of Drug Discovery and Development

BIOL-40378

Gain insight on the Present and Future of Drug Discovery and Development

This course explores the current state of drug discovery and development and the emerging trends and technologies that are shaping the future of the pharmaceutical industry. The course will cover emerging trends and technologies, such as artificial intelligence, genomics, and personalized medicine, and how these are changing the drug discovery and development landscape.

Note: This new course is scheduled to launch in Summer 2025. 

Topics

 
  • Introduction to the Present and Future of Drug Discovery and Development
  • Emerging Technologies in Drug Research
  • Precision Medicine and Pharmacogenomics 
  • Advancements in Immunotherapeutic and Gene Therapies 
  • Organ-on-a-chip and 3D Bioprinting 
  • Drug Repurposing and Combination Therapies 
  • Application of AI and Machine Learning
  • Addressing Drug Resistance and Treatment Gaps 
  • Next Generation Cell Therapies for Regenerative Medicine 

Learning Objectives

 
By the end of this course, students will be able to: 
  • Understand the current drug discovery and development process
  • Understand emerging technologies used in drug discovery research
  • Discuss recent immunotherapies
  • Discuss recent cell and gene therapies 

Prerequisites

 
There are no required prerequisites for this course. A bachelor’s degree in the life or physical sciences or more than ten years of biopharmaceutical industry, academic, or clinical experience with a secondary degree will help. 
 

Format

 
This course is offered in an online asynchronous format. There are no set meeting times, however, students follow a weekly schedule and there will be deadlines to meet in terms of course requirements. This course cannot be completed at an accelerated rate.

Course Information

Online
3.00 units
$845.00

Get more information

This course applies to these programs

Drug Discovery and Development

Course sessions

Add To Cart

Section ID:

187242

Class type:

Online Asynchronous.

This course is entirely web-based and to be completed asynchronously between the published course start and end dates. Synchronous attendance is NOT required.
You will have access to your online course on the published start date OR 1 business day after your enrollment is confirmed if you enroll on or after the published start date.

Textbooks:

No textbook required.

Policies:

  • No refunds after: 6/30/2025

Schedule:

No information available at this time.
Add To Cart

Instructor: George Harb

George Harb

George Harb, PhD, has more than 20 years of diabetes drug discovery and development experience at both biotech and pharmaceutical companies. He is currently co-founder of a biotech startup and consultant to life sciences companies.

Previously, Dr. Harb served as vice president of the diabetes program at Sana Biotechnology. Prior to Sana, he was vice president of regenerative biology at Cellino Biotech, a tech-bio company, developing an autonomous cell therapy manufacturing platform for autologous applications.

In 2015, Dr. Harb joined Semma Therapeutics, a biotech company in Cambridge, MA to develop cell therapies for type 1 diabetes. As Director of Discovery Biology, he oversaw early research, platform development and next generation cell therapy programs. In 2019, Semma was acquired by Vertex Pharmaceuticals enabling clinical evaluation and validation of the cell therapies in type 1 diabetes patients.

Prior to Semma, Dr. Harb joined Novartis Pharmaceuticals in La Jolla, California to develop small molecule treatments for type 1 diabetes. As part of an inaugural public/private joint venture (JDRF-industry partnership), the program focused on leveraging isolated pancreatic beta cells to identify novel drug targets.  

Dr. Harb earned his BSc in physiology and PhD in Experimental surgery from the University of Alberta, Canada. He then pursued postdoctoral training at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in beta cell regeneration.

Full Bio