MPS5202 · From ideas to medicines: Investigator perspectives

Overview

This unit takes you into the minds of leading researchers in the pharmaceutical sciences to unravel the thinking that goes into transforming an idea into a clinically useful drug. From a series of recorded and live interviews and Q&A sessions with the investigators, you will be able to interrogate research leaders on the qualities they possess and the strategies they use to help them generate ideas, test hypotheses and guide research programs whose primary aim is the discovery and development of new medicines. Working in groups and individually, you will critically examine four investigator-driven drug discovery and development examples and, from your enquiry, formulate a comprehensive dossier on the interplay of science, scientists and prevailing circumstances in pharmaceutical discovery. You will present your findings, including ethical and sustainability issues that you encounter, in a variety of written and oral modalities. Upon completing this unit, you will have a mature understanding of the human nature of pharmaceutical research which will allow you to holistically evaluate contemporary and future pharmaceutical endeavours.

Offerings

Assessment

The Handbook does not list a final examination among the assessment items. That is not a guarantee there is none.

Assessment details may change. Please refer to the assessment information in Moodle closer to the start of the teaching period.

Requisites

The Handbook lists no prerequisite, corequisite or prohibition for this unit.

Learning outcomes

1. Critically evaluate the role of the investigator in specific examples of drug discovery and development
2. Present a logical and nuanced analysis of how scientific, ethical and commercial considerations inform decision-making in specific examples of drug development
3. Predict how the presence of contemporary technologies – had they been available at the time – might have influenced the approaches and strategies chosen by investigators to develop specific pharmaceutical products in the past
4. Use effective oral communication to present an informed evaluation of the specific examples of investigator-driven pharmaceutical research
5. Demonstrate effective teamwork practices within the context of a group report
6. Develop communication and critical thinking skills via effective reflective practice.

Workload

• 24 hours of preparation for classes • Twelve 3-hour workshops • 72 hours of independent study • 12 hours of group work

Student experience, not official rules. Nothing here changes what the Handbook says.