Students have an increased interest in learning physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling, but this requires an in-depth understanding of biopharmaceutics and pharmacokinetics.

Based on a course recently taught at the University of Southern California, this webinar will:

• Demonstrate how active learning with GastroPlus can be used to teach these scientific principles and software operation in parallel
• Illustrate the use of GastroPlus as a teaching tool to provide students with the opportunity to explore practical applications of PBPK modeling
• Provide attendees with a course template for implementing a similar course at their institutions including a discussion of how course objectives and content can be adapted for different audiences, as well as practical tips for teaching this course to diverse groups of undergraduate and graduate students.

This course is designed around learning objectives in foundational science, software use, and PBPK model application. Principles of biopharmaceutics and pharmacokinetics are taught through hands-on use of GastroPlus, using the software to demonstrate the relationship of physicochemical and physiologic properties with drug disposition. Through a group project, students build a PBPK model based on literature data for an assigned drug, and then apply this model to answer clinically relevant questions.

Outcomes of the recent course implementation revealed that this approach increased student understanding of biopharmaceutics and pharmacokinetics, while allowing students to become proficient software users with an appropriate understanding of clinical and scientific context.

Presenters:
Ian S. Haworth, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology & Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Southern California

Noam Morningstar-Kywi, Scientist I, Simulations Plus