Pharmacokinetics (PK) is the study of the fate of a drug once it is in the body, linking the dose to the observed plasma concentrations. In this course, you will learn the fundamentals of PK with the objective of being able to design a preclinical PK study and understanding the concepts applied to clinical PK studies. Bioanalysis (BA) is the branch of analytical chemistry that involves the quantitative measurement of analytes (xenobiotics and endogenous molecules) in biological systems. All PK models are built on empirically collected data points such as drug plasma concentrations achieved through BA. Understanding BA and PK together will unlock your ability to design a PK study from dose selection to sample preparation and analysis.

This course will begin with an introduction to PK covering fundamental topics such as compartmental analysis, volume, and clearance and some key principles of absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME). Finally, the course will end with a brief introduction to BA including a tutorial on LC-MS/MS assay development and analysis. By the end of this course, students will have the knowledge and practical framework to design and interpret PK studies, a skill that is in demand in the Canadian pharmaceutical industry.