Students entering scientific programmes need confidence with essential mathematical topics so they can apply them throughout their studies. Statistics and experimental design form the backbone of empirical research, providing the logical framework for collecting, analysing and interpreting data. A properly structured experiment minimises bias, isolates the variables being tested, and uses statistical methods to draw valid, reproducible conclusions.

As we present the chemical basis of life, this course examines the structure, function, and interactions of the principal biomolecules — proteins, nucleic acids, lipids, and carbohydrates — and the metabolic and regulatory networks through which they sustain living systems. Biochemical principles are connected throughout to their applications in medicine, pharmacy, and biotechnology — from inborn errors of metabolism to the mechanisms of action of statins, antibiotics, and modern therapeutic agents.

Every drug molecule is an organic compound, and this course teaches students to think about organic molecules systematically. Questions such as why an S_N2 reaction inverts configuration, what makes the Diels–Alder reaction special, or why some carboxylic acids are stronger than others underpin drug design, synthesis and metabolism, and are built on later in natural products, pharmacology and medicinal chemistry. The syllabus moves from organic nomenclature and isomerism through alkene reactions, substitution mechanisms, carbonyl chemistry, and carboxylic acid and amine chemistry.

Systematic Anatomy examines the structure of the human body system by system — skeletal, muscular, nervous, cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive, urinary, endocrine and reproductive. Students study the gross and microscopic organisation of each system and how structure relates to function, gaining the anatomical grounding needed to understand drug targets, routes of administration, and the disease processes examined later in pathology and pharmacology.

Natural products and related structures are essential sources of new pharmaceuticals because of the immense variety of functionally relevant secondary metabolites of microbial and plant species. Powerful analytical tools based on genomics, proteomics, metabolomics and bioinformatics are greatly expediting their identification and characterisation. This course provides an overview of major categories of metabolites and bio-functionality, including carbohydrates, aminoglycosides, phenolic compounds, flavonoids, steroids, amino acids and their polymers, terpenoids, alkaloids, nucleosides, polyketides, and key toxins and venoms.

This module details the practical methodologies and experimental techniques used to identify, evaluate, and quantify the safety and efficacy of chemical substances. It bridges the gap between biochemistry and clinical therapy, exploring how researchers use isolated tissues, animal models, and modern technology to study what a drug does to the body (pharmacodynamics) and what the body does to a drug (pharmacokinetics).

This course examines the classification, mechanism of action, pharmacokinetics, pharmacological actions, adverse effects and contraindications of therapeutic chemicals, together with drug interactions, dosage, the symptoms and treatment of poisoning, and the clinical management of disease. The autonomic nervous system serves as a key model for understanding drug action, particularly through its close links to cardiovascular responses. As cardiovascular disease remains a leading cause of death and illness, the module covers drug treatments alongside broader prevention strategies such as smoking cessation and dietary change.

Effective treatment of disease requires far more than knowing the names of medicines: clinicians must decide which drug is most suitable, how it should be administered, what dose is appropriate, and how the patient is responding. This subject examines the therapeutic management of common diseases across the major body systems, introducing the principles of treatment, drug selection, patient counselling, adverse drug reactions and the safe use of medicines. Where pharmacology explains how a drug acts, pharmacotherapeutics shows when, why and how that drug should be used to treat real patients in everyday clinical practice.

Systematic pathology is the study of specific diseases as they affect individual organ systems, building on general pathology to examine how organs react to injury. Key organ systems covered include cardiovascular, pulmonary, reproductive, endocrine, renal, gastrointestinal, skin, nervous system, musculoskeletal, and haematological and lymph node disorders, together with environmental and nutritional diseases.

This course introduces the research process behind modern pharmaceutical development: how new drugs are discovered, how promising compounds are refined, how drugs travel to and from their sites of action, and how the body eliminates them. Topics include biological drug targets, lead discovery and optimisation, bioassays and screening, structure–activity approaches such as QSAR, combinatorial chemistry and computational modelling, biodisposition (pharmacokinetics, drug metabolism and prodrugs), and regulatory affairs and patents. Teaching is built around case studies and supported by laboratory work in synthetic chemistry, spectroscopy and computational chemistry.

The research project is the capstone of the degree. Working under the supervision of an academic mentor, students plan and carry out an independent laboratory-based investigation in an area of pharmacology, from defining the research question and designing experiments through to collecting, analysing and interpreting data. The project culminates in a written dissertation and an oral presentation, drawing together the scientific knowledge, practical skills and critical thinking developed across the programme.