This assignment is centred on one of the following drugs – Simvastatin, perindopril, salbutamol, propofol, morphine, tacrolimus, risperidone, paroxetine, cocaine or cannabis.

Before commencing your research, you are to nominate which drug you wish to report on via the unit moodle site using the survey located under the “essential information” tab. Please note the survey has been designed so that a maximum of 5 people can nominate to report on any one drug. Once 5 people have selected any one drug it will no longer allow others to record this option, in which case you will be required to select any of the remaining choices. Assignment submissions will not be accepted unless you have nominated which drug you will report on in the survey, this prevents students from submitting assessments on topics which have already exhausted the maximum allocation.  The survey will be open from 9:00am AEST Monday the 19^th of February 2018 (two weeks prior to the commencement of term).  There is no scheduled closing date for the survey, but as noted above you are required to complete this task in order for your assignment submission to be accepted.  

Once you have nominated your drug, you must create an electronic poster presentation using powerpoint. Posters are a great way to succinctly present information and are often used at scientific conferences to deliver content. To give you an idea of how scientific posters are formatted for presentation some examples will be uploaded to the unit moodle site.

On your poster you will be required to outline the following information as it relates to your compound – Pharmacodynamics, receptor targets (agonist, antagonist or protein target), pharmacokinetics, clinical responses, clinical trials, preclinical testing and side effects.

When researching information you are advised to use peer-review sources. The use of internet pages and information released by the pharmaceutical company which produce the drug you are reporting on is discouraged. In text referencing and a reference list must be included on your poster.

In addition to examining the pharmacological content on your poster, you will also be assessed on the quality of information sources used, overall format and layout, and spelling and grammar. You may use any dimensions you want for your poster provided they do not exceed 85cm wide and 100cm high. When formatting your poster it is advisable to select complimentary colours for the background and writing, the font should be a suitable size in comparison to the dimensions of your presentation and you should avoid having blank spaces. Whilst you may use images in your presentation, any you do incorporate must contain appropriate titles, be referenced in text and when necessary include a reference. Whilst not compulsory, it is advisable to include subheadings as these often help to improve readability.

A detailed criteria sheet can be found on the unit moodle page, however assessment will be based on the accuracy in presenting pharmacological concepts as they relate to your drug of choice, quality of information sources used, presentation of references, presentation and formatting the content (including images, figures, or tables), and spelling and grammar.

This task requires you to complete an online Computer-aided learning (CAL) module and submit your responses / answers which are derived from this activity.

The CAL is a virtual pharmacology experiment, which will enable you to perform the organ bath technique without having to step foot into a laboratory. As noted in lectures, organ bath experiments enable pharmacologists to investigate the physiology and pharmacology of in vitro tissue preparations. The theory behind the organ bath technique is discussed further in the CAL instruction manual which is available on the unit moodle site under the “essential information” tab, as are the step-by-step instructions for using this online module.

In order to complete this activity, you are required to follow the instructions outlined in the instruction manual and collect experimental data generated from the CAL software. Once you have collected your data you are required to prepare cumulative concentration response curves and answer a series of questions which relate to the online module you just completed.

The completion of this activity will enable you to further understand concepts relating to agonists, antagonists, EC50s, cumulative concentration responses and will enable you to get an introductory understanding of how pharmacological experiments are conducted. This task may also assist in completion of assessment item 3.

This task requires the submission of data, graphs and responses generated as a result of completing a CAL module. The data tables and graphs you submit will be assessed for ability to interpret and present the generated data in a professional manner. The written responses you submit each contain weighted marks as outlined in the CAL instruction manual and will be marked either correct or incorrect based upon your understanding of key concepts and the interpretation of the results you gain.

This task requires you to outline a series of experiments you could use to verify the pharmacological actions of an imaginary drug.

In a real world context, pharmacologists are required to test new chemical compounds and work to identify the physiological effects they have within the body (For example, does a new compound increase heart rate?). Once the physiological effects for new compounds have been identified, pharmacologists must then work to identify the mechanism through which the observed effects are mediated (For example, what receptors are activated or blocked, what proteins undergo phosphorylation, what genes are turned off and on).

In this assessment you are given the physiological effects for three imaginary drugs. You are to choose one of the three options to report on. Once you have made your choice you are to describe a series of experiments you could use to test the mechanism/s through which the imaginary drug is mediating its effects.

Imaginary drugs you can choose from -

· Anginablast – thought causes long lasting coronary and other artery dilation

· Intestocalm – revolutionary new antispasmodic agent for the intestine which stops GIT muscle contractions

· Surgysleep – new anaesthetic and analgesic agent that has few side effects (minimal respiratory depression and almost immediate recovery)

As a guide, you may like to consider how experimental techniques we have covered in CALs could be used, along with any other methods you have identified during your literature search to determine the mechanism of action for your imaginary drug. It would be advantageous to position your proposed experiments with a discussion on existing compounds that may have similar properties. The use of peer-review journal articles as information sources is expected (a minimum of 10 primary references are required for this assessment item), whilst the use of internet / pharmaceutical company websites is discouraged. Word limit for this assessment item is 2000 words.

By completing this task it is hoped you will gain a greater understanding of receptor targets and how drugs work, demonstrate basic knowledge of preclinical tissue bath testing and clinical trials, and demonstrate creative written expression and advanced literature review and integration.

A detailed criteria sheet can be found on the unit moodle page, however assessment will be based on the knowledge of theory, rationalization and justification of your arguments/ideas/proposed experiments, quality and quantity of information sources used, presentation of references, presentation and formatting the content (including images, figures, or tables) and spelling and grammar.