M-TRAM Coursework
The Core Curriculum is focused on translational medicine, clinical study design, applied medicine and drug development. The courses are taught by Stanford's world-class faculty experts and technology leaders across schools and departments, among them Pediatrics, Radiology, Oncology, Bioengineering, and Epidemilogy and Public Health.
Course Overview
This comprehensive three-quarter course provides an in-depth exploration of the entire drug development process, from initial discovery research to successful commercialization. Students will gain expertise in the key stages of drug development, including drug discovery, clinical trials, regulatory affairs, and market launch. The course is designed to equip students with the skills and knowledge needed to address real-world problems in drug development through a multidisciplinary approach, featuring renowned Stanford faculty and guest speakers from the biotech and pharmaceutical industries.
Fall quarter class explores the fundamental processes and methodologies of drug discovery in this comprehensive course designed for aspiring pharmaceutical researchers and industry professionals. Led by renowned experts from Stanford University and industry, participants will delve into key topics such as early drug discovery, target identification, high throughput screening, medicinal chemistry, and preclinical pharmacokinetics. Gain practical insights into drug repurposing, in silico methods, and preclinical disease models essential for optimizing therapeutic development. Students will deepen their understanding of the drug discovery pipeline and its critical stages.
Topics Covered
Fall Quarter: Drug Discovery
Date |
Topic |
Instructor (s) |
September 27 |
Introduction to Early Drug Discovery |
Dean Felsher, Stanford |
October 4 |
Target Discovery and Identification |
Nathanael Gray, Stanford |
October 11 |
Hit Identification and High Throughput Screening |
Bruce Koch, Stanford |
October 18 |
Drug Repurposing and Repositioning |
Steve Corsello, Stanford |
October 25 |
Medicinal Chemistry and Lead Optimization |
Mark Smith, Stanford |
November 1 |
Antibody Engineering for Therapeutics |
Adrian Hugenmatter, Stanford |
November 8 |
In Silico Methods for Drug Discovery |
Russ Altman, Stanford |
November 15 |
Target Validation |
Nathanael Gray, Stanford |
November 22 |
Preclinical Development and requirements for IND |
Bill Lundberg, Merus |
December 6 |
Preclinical Disease Models |
Dean Felsher, Stanford |
December 13 |
Preclinical Pharmacokinetics and Toxicology |
Dinah Misner, Aligos Therapeutics |
Course Directors
Dean Felsher, MD, PhD
Professor, Medicine (Oncology)
M-TRAM Program Director
Joanna Liliental, PhD
M-TRAM Executive Director
TRAM, Associate Director
Course Instructors
Russ Altman, MD, PhD
Director, SPADA
Stanford Predictives & Diagnostics
Accelerator Associate Director,
Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence Institute
Stanford Medicine
Steve Corsello, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Division of Oncology
Stanford Medicine
Dean Felsher, MD, PhD
Professor, Medicine (Oncology)
M-TRAM Program Director
Nathanael Gray, PhD
Co-Director, Cancer Drug Discovery
Co-Leader of the Cancer Therapeutics Research Program
Program Leader for Small Molecule Drug Discovery
Innovative Medicines Accelerator (IMA)
Stanford Medicine
Adrian Hugenmatter, PhD
Director off Protein Engineering
Sarafan ChEM-H
Stanford Medicine
Bruce Koch, PhD
Head, High Throughput Screening
Knowledge Center (HTSKC)
Co-lead, IMA HTS Module
Stanford Medicine
Bill Lundberg, MD
President and CEO
Merus NV
Dinah Misner, PhD
Vice President
Aligos Therapeutics
Mark Smith, PhD
Head of Medicinal Chemistry
Sarafan ChEM-H
Stanford University
Project-Based, Mentored Learning
Students work on a mentored capstone project (TRIP: Translational Research Individual Project) from the second through the fourth quarters. Students test a hypothesis, develop an experimental plan, interpret results, understand the future research plan, and, upon completion, provide a short presentation to the leadership committee and other students and also write a report. For a full description of the TRIP capstone project, click here.
Students will give a 10- to 15-minute project update presentation at the end of each quarter. The assessment will focus on their ability to integrate knowledge and skills across target discovery, clinical trials, and commercialization/marketing.
Hands-On Experience and Skills
Experiential learning is a central part of the M-TRAM curriculum. Students receive practical experience in basic research and clinical medicine, as well as hands-on technology training in genomics, proteomics, cell-based assays, drug-screening, and computational biology, as part of the Translational Research and Applied Medicine (MED121) course taught by Dean Felsher and Joanna Liliental, members of the M-TRAM Executive Committee.
In addition, MTRAM has received substantial support from Stanford c-Sharp to provide students with multi-facility immersive, hands-on learning via the Translational Research Methods Course (MED212). Over the course of three quarters, students work on cell-based methods in translational research, translational proteomics, and translational genomics.
And finally, M-TRAM students complete a summer industry internship designed to gain hands-on drug development experience.