The Giustiniani Medicine Chest, Genoese, c.1565, holding 126 bottles and pots for drugs. (Image courtesy of Sceince Museum/Science & Society Picture Library, London.)

This course is an introduction to principles of pharmacology in a friendly way, discussion of how drugs affect most organs of the body, how stress worsens many inflammatory conditions that affect multiple organs, practical and ethical consideration of clinical trials,  as well as exposure to current research and opportunities for independent research.

This conversational course will present key topics and drug families covered in the regular medical pharmacology course in a condensed, hopefully humorous, but intellectually stimulating way.  The emphasis will be on processes rather than on individual drugs, especially those that could lead to inflammation in different organs and their treatment.  During the course, there will be opportunity to address clinical trial design, data analysis, the placebo effect and medical ethics.

• Session 4: Creativity and Madness
• Session 1: Introduction
• Session 2: Clinical Practice and Research
• Session 9: Heart and Vessel Squeeze
• Session 10: Guts and Runs