Course Overview

 

MEDSCI 319 focuses and builds more on the pharmacodynamic aspects in regard to pharmacology. This course in particular explores the molecular and cellular mechanisms that are involved in drug action, particularly the biochemical targets for cancer therapy i.e. protein kinases and G protein-coupled receptors. The concept of drug design is also explored from the perspective of in-silico modelling, biochemical assessment and intracellular signalling.

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Each week, this course has 2 hours of lecture content and 3 hours of labs/workshops. There is a 1 hour (timetabled) office hour for assignment support, run by Dr Deanna Bell and Dr Leslie Schwarcz. 

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Laboratories/workshop

 

There is quite the lab/workshop component in this course, with a 3 hour lab or workshop each week. A lot of what we do in the lab and in the workshop is very relevant to the lecture content and tends to go hand in hand and is very integrated.

 

The first half of the workshops is focused on protein kinases, and has a focus on the idea of selectivity, potency and efficacy. The main objective is to identify a selective inhibitor for the kinase using primary literature that is available (which will be studied in the workshops) and practical lab experiments which include assays to generate data and evidence that you have identified a selective inhibitor with good potency and efficacy - you will be creating your own protocol for the lab work, but this is all guided by videos and the lecturers. This may sound intimidating but we have a lot of assignments that revolve around this objective, and there are plenty of resources to help you achieve this as well as the teaching staff who are more than happy to help. The main lab/workshop assignments that revolve around this include the module 1 essay, experimental protocol, data analysis sheet, the practical and theory lab tests and the video presentation. There is quite a bit of calculations, statistics (we use GraphPad Prism) and research involved in a lot of these associated assignments so make sure not to do them last minute as this can affect the quality of your work and can get overwhelming (trust me, I’ve been there). 

 

The second half of the workshops/labs is focused on G protein-coupled receptors, there isn’t much lab work associated with this portion - most will be workshop based, reviewing the literature and helping you prepare for the final exam. In one of the Module 2 workshops, you will sit a closed-book GPCR Receptor Pharmacology Quiz worth 5% of your final grade.

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In the first workshop, you are placed into a group which you will work with (in workshops) throughout the semester. It gives an opportunity to discuss the content and as a group, you will be doing tasks to earn 319 dollars for prizes at the end of the course! All the lab work and practical experiments will be done individually.

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Lecture Content

 

The lectures are split into two modules:​

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Module 1: Kinase Pharmacology and Drug Discovery

The first module has 10 lectures taught by Dr Jack Flanagan, and 1 lecture with guest lecturer Dr Ben Lawrence. The focus of this module is phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) which is mutated in various breast cancers. Using PI3K as an example, we look at how in silico predictions of drug-protein interactions and the related pharmacodynamic concepts contribute to the successful discovery of new selective and potent drugs.

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This module links to the lab protocol essay, lab worksheet and video presentation.

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Module 2: Receptor Pharmacology and Drug Discovery

This module is taught by both Dr Raewyn Poulsen and Dr Jack Flanagan. Raewyn teaches the first 9 lectures on receptor pharmacology and GPCRs, while Jack takes the last 4 lectures on drug discovery. This module is all about a ligand's effect on physiological or therapeutic cellular responses, with GPCR binding as the example pathway. The drug discovery lectures are based on Huang et al.'s paper discussing structure-guided journey to de-orphanise GPR68 and GPR65. 

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Assessments and Assignments

Protocol (2%)

For the protocol assignment, we had to design our own isolated enzyme inhibition experiment, which included an aim and hypothesis, an experimental plate map, and a concise run plan. This included calculations for volume and concentrations of drugs used, and how they were diluted. This assignment was related to the PI3K content we covered in class, and we got to use our own protocol to carry out the experiment and analyse our results.

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There was a lot of support for this assignment - there was a template given, and the experimental design process was guided by a set of videos. We also completed a mock protocol as practice a couple weeks prior, and had gotten feedback for it too.

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Analytical Essay (10%)

The analytical essay was about how in silico and biochemical experiments are integrated together for drug discovery. The essay was supported by Module 1 workshops, where we were able to use PyMOL software to molecularly dock compounds onto PI3K models. For the assignment, we had to write a 2000-word essay analysing our workshop results and published literature to guide the design of new drugs.

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Worksheet and Video Presentation (13%)

The worksheet (3%) was where we analysed and presented our data from our lab experiments. Like the protocol, the worksheet was ​supported by a set of videos, as well as the work we did in the labs.​ The worksheet gave us a chance to practice data analysis and data presentation skills which we needed for our video presentation.

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The video presentation (10%) was a summary of all the work we did in the Module 1 workshop and labs. It linked the concepts in the essay and lab experiments (the one we completed a protocol for) together to discuss potential inhibitor drugs for PI3K in breast cancer. You record yourself speaking over a set of slides for 5-7 minutes.

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Mid-semester Test (15%)

The mid-semester test covered all the content in Module 1, including lectures, labs and workshops. In 2026, it was an individual, in-person, hand-written, closed-book test with 4 medium-long answer questions (some multipart).​

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Lab Theory and Practical Test (20%)

The lab theory and practical test was scheduled during your timetabled lab stream. The lab theory test (15%) was a 75-minute, closed-book test covering lab related content. This included mainly calculations and experimental design, like the protocol assignment. Then, after a break and instructures, we had the lab practical test (5%), which ran for 80-minutes, in which we had to follow a protocol to conduct an experiment. The accuracy of your final results and your ability to use certain lab equipment was tested.​​

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In-workshop GPCR Quiz (5%)

At the start of one of the Module 2 workshops, we sat a closed-book, online quiz on receptor pharmacology. It was based on the previous workshop and relevant lecture material.

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Exam (35%)

​The exam was on Module 2 lecture and workshops ONLY. There were 10 questions (some multipart), which ranged from short answers to short essays.

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Personal Review

 

This course ​is a good pharmacology paper to take - I found that the concepts we learnt were helpful in understanding pharmacology-related content in other courses, which will always appear because there's always going to be drugs. There are a lot of assignments, especially during the first half of the semester for Module 1 and it can get a bit overwhelming, but the lecturers are all very sweet (pharmacology staff are usually very nice). It isn't as bad with Module 2, and it helps that the exam is only on Module 2 content (not like typical MEDSCI courses, which examine you on the semesters' worth of content). The addition of "319 dollars" was also very fun and got everyone engaged and competitive!

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Note: This course is quite a new course and always happy to take on board feedback, so it might look different in the coming years.

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Updated: 2026