
This online course is part of a set of training activities offered by Pharmacometrics Africa to support the development of pharmacometric competency and expertise in Africa and low and middle income countries.
Pharmacometrics is the science of developing and applying mathematical and statistical models to characterize, understand and predict a drug’s pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and biomaker-outcome behavior. By using pharmacometrics, researchers can model the characteristics of new drugs to simulate and predict their behavior, which can then enable more efficient development of new drugs and to improve use of existing drugs.
The Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacometrics course comprises ten lessons which cover key aspects of clinical pharmacology and mathematical modelling that underpin the principles of pharmacometrics.
Participants conduct self-study on each lesson over 1 week, and then join a live tutorial at the end of the week during which a faculty member discusses the week’s materials and any exercises that were assigned. These tutorials are recorded for off-line viewing for those who might experience difficulties with internet connectivity. All participants are assigned into small groups under the mentorship of a member of the course faculty. The course faculty are subject matter experts – they update content, design the lesson assignments and tasks, participate in online discussions, summarize the weekly discussion threads, conduct or support the weekly live tutorials, mentor participants and prepare assessments on the performance of the participants in their tutor groups.
Online learning specialists from CREATES upload all content, guide all course participants on how to use the Virtual Learning Environment, maintain communication, document course processes and offer continuous technical support throughout the course.
The lessons are as follows: