Course overview
- Study period
- Semester 2, 2025 (28/07/2025 - 22/11/2025)
- Study level
- Undergraduate
- Location
- St Lucia
- Attendance mode
- In Person
- Units
- 2
- Administrative campus
- St Lucia
- Coordinating unit
- Biomedical Sciences School
Experimental Pharmacology introduces final year students to current advances in pharmacological research and drug development. The course focuses on modern approaches to understanding novel therapeutics under investigation for unmet medical needs such as cancer, chronic inflammation and neurodegenerative diseases. Students will be exposed to specific areas of pharmacology not covered, or only briefly touched on, in other pharmacology courses.
BIOM3402 is designed to introduce final year students to current and future developments in pharmacology. The course examines specific areas of drug discovery that will impact the treatment of human diseases over the coming decade. It employs leading pharmacological researchers to examine novel therapeutics and their unique biological mechanisms. Novel drug targets and drug modalities are used to demonstrate how pharmacology is evolving in the genomic and proteomic era.
Course requirements
Assumed background
BIOM2402 and/or BIOM3401
Prerequisites
You'll need to complete the following courses before enrolling in this one:
BIOM2402
Course contact
Course coordinator
School enquiries
Student and Academic Administration Team
The SBMS Student and Academic Administration Team is located on Level 1 of the Sir William Macgregor Building (64-130).
Course staff
Lecturer
Associate Professor Sebastian Furness
Timetable
The timetable for this course is available on the UQ Public Timetable.
Aims and outcomes
BIOM3402 introduces third year students to the future of pharmacology and its application in the treatment of human diseases. Using leading researchers in the field, it aims to provide an understanding in:
1. Novel targets for drug development.
2. Emerging areas of pharmacology including peptides as drugs and nanomedicines.
3. Novel approaches to treating serious human diseases such as inflammation, neurological disorders and cancer.
ﾠ
Assessment
Assessment summary
| Category | Assessment task | Weight | Due date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paper/ Report/ Annotation |
Peptides as drugs
|
25% |
5/09/2025 2:00 pm |
| Paper/ Report/ Annotation |
Microglia
|
25% |
17/10/2025 2:00 pm |
| Paper/ Report/ Annotation |
Proteins as drugs
|
20% |
31/10/2025 2:00 pm |
| Examination |
Invigilated End of Semester Examination
|
30% |
End of Semester Exam Period 8/11/2025 - 22/11/2025 |
A hurdle is an assessment requirement that must be satisfied in order to receive a specific grade for the course. Check the assessment details for more information about hurdle requirements.
Assessment details
Peptides as drugs
- Hurdle
- In-person
- Online
- Mode
- Written
- Category
- Paper/ Report/ Annotation
- Weight
- 25%
- Due date
5/09/2025 2:00 pm
- Learning outcomes
- L03, L04
Task description
Peptides as drugs laboratory report
- Upon submission of the Peptides as Drugs report, you should check in the Turnitin Assignment Inbox page that your report was submitted successfully.
- Further details of the assessment format and marking criteria will be provided on Blackboard during the semester.
- This task has been designed to be challenging, authentic and complex. Whilst students may use AI and/or MT technologies, successful completion of assessment in this course will require students to critically engage in specific contexts and tasks for which artificial intelligence will provide only limited support and guidance. A failure to reference generative AI or MT use may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct. To pass this assessment, students will be required to demonstrate detailed comprehension of their written submission independent of AI and MT tools.
Hurdle requirements
You must obtain a PASS mark of 50% for the combined total of the three Laboratory Reports.Submission guidelines
You must submit your Assessment task, with the electronic coversheet available on the School's website, to Turnitin by the submission deadline. You may submit drafts to Turnitin up to the due date, but you will only be able to submit once on or after the due date. You should also keep an electronic copy of every piece of assessment you submit.
Deferral or extension
You may be able to apply for an extension.
A request for an extension must be submitted through my.UQ as soon as it becomes evident that an extension is needed, but no later than one calendar day after the assessment task submission due date and time.
Requests for extension received more than one calendar day after the assessment task submission due date and time will not be accepted for consideration unless you provide evidence of exceptional circumstances preventing you from submitting a request prior to the deadline, e.g., due to hospitalisation.
If you have been granted an extension, then the assessment specified penalty listed under Late Submission will be applied to submissions made after the due date of the approved extension.
Late submission
A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.
Microglia
- Hurdle
- In-person
- Online
- Mode
- Written
- Category
- Paper/ Report/ Annotation
- Weight
- 25%
- Due date
17/10/2025 2:00 pm
- Learning outcomes
- L03, L04
Task description
Microglia laboratory report
- Upon submission of the microglia report, you should check in the Turnitin Assignment Inbox page that your report was submitted successfully.
- Further details of the assessment format and marking criteria will be provided on Blackboard during the semester.
- This task has been designed to be challenging, authentic and complex. Whilst students may use AI and/or MT technologies, successful completion of assessment in this course will require students to critically engage in specific contexts and tasks for which artificial intelligence will provide only limited support and guidance. A failure to reference generative AI or MT use may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct. To pass this assessment, students will be required to demonstrate detailed comprehension of their written submission independent of AI and MT tools.
Hurdle requirements
You must obtain a PASS mark of 50% for the combined total of the three Laboratory Reports.Submission guidelines
You must submit your Assessment task, with the electronic coversheet available on the School's website, to Turnitin by the submission deadline. You may submit drafts to Turnitin up to the due date, but you will only be able to submit once on or after the due date. You should also keep an electronic copy of every piece of assessment you submit.
Deferral or extension
You may be able to apply for an extension.
A request for an extension must be submitted through my.UQ as soon as it becomes evident that an extension is needed, but no later than one calendar day after the assessment task submission due date and time.
Requests for extension received more than one calendar day after the assessment task submission due date and time will not be accepted for consideration unless you provide evidence of exceptional circumstances preventing you from submitting a request prior to the deadline, e.g., due to hospitalisation.
If you have been granted an extension, then the assessment specified penalty listed under Late Submission will be applied to submissions made after the due date of the approved extension.
Late submission
A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.
Proteins as drugs
- Hurdle
- In-person
- Online
- Mode
- Written
- Category
- Paper/ Report/ Annotation
- Weight
- 20%
- Due date
31/10/2025 2:00 pm
- Learning outcomes
- L03, L04
Task description
Proteins as Drugs laboratory report
- Upon submission of the Proteins as Drugs report, you should check in the Turnitin Assignment Inbox page that your report was submitted successfully.
- Further details of the assessment format and marking criteria will be provided on Blackboard during the semester.
- This task has been designed to be challenging, authentic and complex. Whilst students may use AI and/or MT technologies, successful completion of assessment in this course will require students to critically engage in specific contexts and tasks for which artificial intelligence will provide only limited support and guidance. A failure to reference generative AI or MT use may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct. To pass this assessment, students will be required to demonstrate detailed comprehension of their written submission independent of AI and MT tools.
Hurdle requirements
You must obtain a PASS mark of 50% for the combined total of the three Laboratory Reports.Submission guidelines
You must submit your Assessment task, with the electronic coversheet available on the School's website, to Turnitin by the submission deadline. You may submit drafts to Turnitin up to the due date, but you will only be able to submit once on or after the due date. You should also keep an electronic copy of every piece of assessment you submit.
Deferral or extension
You may be able to apply for an extension.
A request for an extension must be submitted through my.UQ as soon as it becomes evident that an extension is needed, but no later than one calendar day after the assessment task submission due date and time.
Requests for extension received more than one calendar day after the assessment task submission due date and time will not be accepted for consideration unless you provide evidence of exceptional circumstances preventing you from submitting a request prior to the deadline, e.g., due to hospitalisation.
If you have been granted an extension, then the assessment specified penalty listed under Late Submission will be applied to submissions made after the due date of the approved extension.
Late submission
A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.
Invigilated End of Semester Examination
- Identity Verified
- In-person
- Online
- Mode
- Written
- Category
- Examination
- Weight
- 30%
- Due date
End of Semester Exam Period
8/11/2025 - 22/11/2025
- Learning outcomes
- L01, L02, L04
Task description
- This is an open-book and open-note, on-campus exam, undertaken via the Inspera eAssessment platform. Students will be required to bring a laptop to the exam that meets the device requirements for Inspera. The exam assesses all lecture and practical material for BIOM3402. Details of the examination format will be provided in class and on the course Blackboard site during the semester, and covered in the final lecture.
- It is important that you check before the exam that your laptop meets the device requirements for using the Inspera Assessment platform. If you do not own a suitable laptop, you can borrow one from the Library. The Library website Get familiar with Inspera provides the latest information for students about using Inspera.
- Have your UQ student ID card available for all of your exams.
- This assessment task is to be completed in-person. The use of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Translation (MT) tools will not be permitted. Any attempted use of AI or MT may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct .
Exam details
| Planning time | 10 minutes |
|---|---|
| Duration | 120 minutes |
| Calculator options | (In person) Casio FX82 series only or UQ approved and labelled calculator |
| Open/closed book | Open book examination - any written or printed material is permitted; material may be annotated |
| Exam platform | Other |
| Invigilation | Invigilated in person |
Submission guidelines
Deferral or extension
You may be able to defer this exam.
Course grading
Full criteria for each grade is available in the Assessment Procedure.
| Grade | Cut off Percent | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 (Low Fail) | 0 - 29 |
Absence of evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: A cumulative score for all intra-semester and end of semester assessment tasks of 0% - 29%. |
| 2 (Fail) | 30 - 44 |
Minimal evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: A cumulative score for all intra-semester and end of semester assessment tasks of 30% - 44%. |
| 3 (Marginal Fail) | 45 - 49 |
Demonstrated evidence of developing achievement of course learning outcomes Course grade description: A cumulative score for all intra-semester and end of semester assessment tasks of 45% - 49% OR A cumulative score for all intra-semester and end of semester assessment items of 50% or greater, but less than a pass in any of the assessment hurdles outlined below in "Additional Course Grading Information" |
| 4 (Pass) | 50 - 64 |
Demonstrated evidence of functional achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: A cumulative score for all intra-semester and end of semester assessment tasks of 50% - 64% AND successful completion of assessment hurdles as outlined below in "Additional Course Grading Information" |
| 5 (Credit) | 65 - 74 |
Demonstrated evidence of proficient achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: A cumulative score for all intra-semester and end of semester assessment tasks of 65% - 74% AND successful completion of assessment hurdles as outlined below in "Additional Course Grading Information" |
| 6 (Distinction) | 75 - 84 |
Demonstrated evidence of advanced achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: A cumulative score for all intra-semester and end of semester assessment tasks of 75% - 84% AND successful completion of assessment hurdles as outlined below in "Additional Course Grading Information" |
| 7 (High Distinction) | 85 - 100 |
Demonstrated evidence of exceptional achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: A cumulative score for all intra-semester and end of semester assessment tasks of 85% - 100% AND successful completion of assessment hurdles as outlined below in "Additional Course Grading Information" |
Additional course grading information
To pass this course you must meet the following hurdle requirements:
• You must obtain a PASS mark in the combined total for the Laboratory Reports.
If a student obtains an overall percentage greater than the cut-offs set to achieve a 4 or higher for the course and does NOT successfully complete the hurdle, they are unable to achieve a grade higher than a 3 (failing grade) for the course. Check below if a supplementary assessment is available for this course.
Supplementary assessment
Supplementary assessment is available for this course.
The supplementary assessment may be in the form of an exam (written or oral), a written submission or another assessment as determined by the Course Coordinator. It may be made up of multiple components and will allow students to meet any outstanding Learning Outcomes. The final grade awarded will be based on the results of the supplementary assessment only and a passing grade will be awarded only if a student passes the supplementary assessment.
Additional assessment information
Refer to the SBMS Assessment Guidelines for School specific assessment information.
Learning resources
You'll need the following resources to successfully complete the course. We've indicated below if you need a personal copy of the reading materials or your own item.
Library resources
Library resources are available on the UQ Library website.
Other course materials
If we've listed something under further requirement, you'll need to provide your own.
Required
| Item | Description | Further Requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) | Clean white laboratory coat, safety glasses and fully enclosed shoes. Students will not be permitted in the laboratory without these items. Each student must have their UQ Student Identification Card visibly displayed above the waist. While public health directions no longer require face masks to be worn, they are recommended when you cannot physically distance, you are a vulnerable person or caring for vulnerable people. Please note that cloth masks are not acceptable in laboratory classes in the School of Biomedical Sciences. PPE and identification card holders can be purchased from the School Locker. | own item needed |
Learning activities
The learning activities for this course are outlined below. Learn more about the learning outcomes that apply to this course.
Filter activity type by
Please select
| Learning period | Activity type | Topic |
|---|---|---|
Multiple weeks From Week 1 To Week 13 |
Lecture |
Lectures Lectures (Lecture Series): Each week there will be an equivalent of one-three hours of lectures during which important and current concepts in Experimental Pharmacology will be discussed. These lectures will either be delivered in person and recorded for later viewing, or may pre-recorded lectures. Topics covered include:
Learning outcomes: L01, L02 |
Practical |
Peptides as drugs In this multi-week practical you will design a new peptide ligand for a complement receptor and test its activity and selectivity at the receptor. A/Prof. Richard Clark, A/Prof. Johan Rosengren, Prof. Trent Woodruff, Dr Xaria Li, Dr Xiaosa Wu Learning outcomes: L03, L04 |
|
Practical |
Microglial inflammation In this multi-week practical you will investigate the role of microglia in neuroinflammation. Dr John Lee Learning outcomes: L03, L04 |
|
Multiple weeks From Week 10 To Week 11 |
Practical |
Proteins as drugs A 2 week practical investigating the properties of proteins as therapeutics. A/Prof. Lisa Kaminskas Learning outcomes: L03, L04 |
Policies and procedures
University policies and procedures apply to all aspects of student life. As a UQ student, you must comply with University-wide and program-specific requirements, including the:
- Student Code of Conduct Policy
- Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy and Procedure
- Assessment Procedure
- Examinations Procedure
- Reasonable Adjustments for Students Policy and Procedure
Learn more about UQ policies on my.UQ and the Policy and Procedure Library.
School guidelines
Your school has additional guidelines you'll need to follow for this course: