An Artificial Intelligence-Supported Medicinal Chemistry Project: An Example for Incorporating AI within the Pharmacy Curriculum

Background Artificial intelligence (AI) is a multidisciplinary science that aims to build software tools that mimic human intelligence. AI is revolutionizing pharmaceutical research and patient care. Hence, it is important to include AI in pharmacy education to prepare a competent workforce of pharmacists with skills in this area. Objective To integrate and utilize AI to teach core concepts in a medicinal chemistry course, and to increase the familiarity of pharmacy students with AI in pharmacy practice and drug development. Methods AI principles were introduced in a required medicinal chemistry course for first year pharmacy students. An AI software, KNIME, was used to examine structure-activity relationships for 5 drugs. Students completed a data sheet that required comprehension of molecular structures and drug-protein interactions. These data were then used to make predictions for molecules with novel substituents using AI. Familiarity of students with AI was surveyed before and after this activity. Results There was an increase in the number of students indicating familiarity with use of AI in pharmacy (pre vs. post: 25.3% vs. 74.5%). The introduction of AI stimulated interest in the course content (more than 60% of students indicated increased interest in medicinal chemistry) without compromising the learning outcomes. Almost 70% of students agreed that more AI should be taught in the PharmD curriculum. Conclusion This is a successful and transferable example of integrating AI in pharmacy education without changing the main learning objectives of a course. This approach is likely to stimulate student interest in AI applications in pharmacy.