Overview
This unit enables you to develop an advanced knowledge and understanding of the principles of targeted therapies and their application in the treatment of human diseases. This unit will enhance your knowledge of genetics and the application of this to the molecular basis for disease development and progression. You will learn how the molecular genetics of human disease may lead to discoveries of biomarkers that can be used to predict an individual's response to specific therapies.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Pre-requisites: BIOL12106 Molecular Biology OR BMSC12012 Molecular Cell Biology AND BMSC12010 Clinical Biochemistry
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 2 - 2025
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of 'pass' in order to pass the unit. If any 'pass/fail' tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully ('pass' grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the 'assessment task' section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback - Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from self reflection
Some content needs updating to reflect new drugs that have been approved in the past couple of years.
Consider updating content to reflect changes in the field.
Feedback from student feedback
Students felt that having a tutorial specific for the assignments was useful.
Consider keeping specific tutorials to help students with the assessments.
- Describe the molecular alterations that can lead to the development and progression of human disease
- Articulate how molecular targeted therapies are developed and describe their therapeutic applications
- Appraise relevant literature to prepare and deliver a scientific presentation
- Critically analyse scientific presentations and provide constructive feedback.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment - 40% | ||||
| 2 - Peer assessment - 10% | ||||
| 3 - Online Test - 50% | ||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Communication | ||||
| 2 - Problem Solving | ||||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | ||||
| 4 - Information Literacy | ||||
| 5 - Team Work | ||||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | ||||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | ||||
| 8 - Ethical practice | ||||
| 9 - Social Innovation | ||||
| 10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | ||||
Textbooks
There are no required textbooks.
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing styles below:
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
n.jarbou@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Introduction to Personalised Medicine and Targeted Therapies
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
HER2 Inhibitors as Targeted Cancer Therapies
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Signal Transduction Pathways: PI3K, AKT and MTOR
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Signal Transduction Pathways: BRAF, MEK and KIT
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Targeting Cell Death Mechanisms in Cancer: The p53 Pathway
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Targeting Cell Death Mechanisms in Cancer: BH3 Mimetics and Caspases
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Targeted Therapies in the DNA Repair Pathways
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
TARGETED THERAPY REVIEW ARTICLE Due: Week 7 Friday (5 Sept 2025) 12:00 pm AEST
Module/Topic
Hormonal Antagonists as Cancer Therapies
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Gene Therapy
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Immunotherapy
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Inhibitors of Angiogenesis and other anti-Vascular Agents
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Revision
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Written Assessment
This review article should be prepared in a format suitable for publication in a scientific journal. You are encouraged to include figures (adapted from other review articles and cited accordingly) or tables as required. It is expected that your review article should contain between 25 to 35 references and be between 2,500 to 3,500 words in length (excluding references, tables or figure legends).
This unit provides you with an opportunity to develop a deep appreciation for the etiology that underpins diseases that are caused by specific genetic or molecular alterations, and the highly specific targeted therapies that have been developed to treat these diseases. The ability to critically analyze a vast body of literature on a particular disease or therapeutic is an essential skill required by those in the biotechnology or medical research professions. In this assessment, you will be provided an opportunity to write a short review article on a particular targeted therapy.
For this assessment, you will be required to:
- Select one (1) targeted therapy that has been shown to have efficacy in the treatment of human disease(s).
- Describe the specific molecular alterations that this therapy was developed to target. You are encouraged to provide a detailed explanation regarding how this particular molecular or genetic alteration is the driving etiology of the disease(s).
- Discuss the mechanism of action of the therapeutic. Is it inhibiting its target in cells?
- Using the lecture content as a guide, identify which cellular pathway is affected by this molecular or genetic alteration. You should also describe the downstream consequences of targeting this alteration with your selected therapy.
- Describe the side effects associated with the clinical use of this targeted therapeutic. Are these considered as "on-target" or "off-target" effects?
- Lastly, you should appraise the literature to identify similar targeted therapies and critically discuss the advantages or disadvantages of your selected therapeutic in comparison to its competitors.
Level of GenAI use allowed
Level 3: You may use Al to assist with specific tasks such as drafting text, refining and evaluating your work. You must critically evaluate and modify any Al-generated content you use.
Week 7 Friday (5 Sept 2025) 12:00 pm AEST
Assessment grade and feedback will be provided within 2 weeks of submission.
Your review article will be assessed on the following criteria:
Scientific Content:
- Ability to concisely review and interpret the literature on your selected targeted therapy.
- Demonstration of a high level of understanding of the molecular or genetic alteration that this therapy is developed to target.
- A comprehensive knowledge on the etiology of the disease(s) that this targeted therapy is indicated for.
- Clear ability to critically analyze the literature surrounding the pre-clinical and clinical research conducted on this targeted therapy.
- Comprehensive understanding of the class of therapeutic and its advantages or disadvantages when compared to competitors in the market.
- Appropriate selection and use of key references.
- Accurate interpretation to the literature and factual correctness on topics discussed.
Presentation and formatting:
- Adherence to Harvard or APA referencing styles
- Adherence to other formatting requirements such as word limit and number of references
- Clarity of the review article
- Structure and flow of the review article
- Quality and reliability of sources of literature referenced
- Describe the molecular alterations that can lead to the development and progression of human disease
- Articulate how molecular targeted therapies are developed and describe their therapeutic applications
- Appraise relevant literature to prepare and deliver a scientific presentation
2 Peer assessment
Publication of pre-clinical or clinical research is common practice in the biotechnology or medical research professions. Such publications undergo rigorous scrutiny from editorial boards of journal and peer reviewers from the scientific community. In this assessment, you will have a simulated experience as a reviewer for a journal. In this role, you will demonstrate your ability to critically analyze a scientific review article and provide constructive feedback. You will be provided with two (2) of your peers' review articles (deidentified) that were submitted for Assessment 1. You will also be provided with guidelines regarding the review process and asked to provide a 1 page written report on each review article. This report will:
- Highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the review article.
- Determine if the review describes a comprehensive account of the literature.
- Identify any key articles that should be incorporated in the review article (if appropriate).
- Provide suggested corrections (major or minor) for the review article (if appropriate). If you conclude that no corrections or changes to the review article are required, then you must justify this through clearly highlighting the strengths of the article.
Your 1-page reports must be prepared using constructive and positive feedback. Your report will not influence the grades of your peers' review article from Assessment 1; however it will be provided to them as a de-identified feedback file.
Level of GenAI use allowed
Level 3: You may use Al to assist with specific tasks such as drafting text, refining and evaluating your work. You must critically evaluate and modify any Al-generated content you use.
Week 10 Friday (26 Sept 2025) 12:00 pm AEST
Assessment grade and feedback will be provided within 2 weeks of submission.
- You will submit two reports, both of 1 page in length. They are worth 5% each and will be graded by the unit coordinator using the following criteria:
- Accurate identification and description of the strengths and weaknesses of the review articles.
- Demonstration of a high level of understanding of the review article topic throughout the report.
- Identification of key literature related to the topic of the review article (the specific targeted therapy).
- Provision of a clear and justified set of corrections supported by additional literature as deemed appropriate.
- Adherence to the Harvard or APA referencing styles and other formatting requirements set in the guidelines.
- Clarity of the report.
- Structure and flow of the report.
- Critically analyse scientific presentations and provide constructive feedback.
3 Online Test
This assessment accounts for 50% of your grade in this unit.
You need to score 50% or higher to successfully complete this assessment.
There are 2 sections
- Section A is worth 20 marks and consists of 10 short answer questions; Section B is worth 80 marks and consists of 10 long answers of which you are to answer ONLY Eight.
- You have 3 hours to complete this assessment.
- This assessment tests knowledge and understanding of class content from weeks 2-11.
- There is no negative marking, so make sure you have answered all questions.
- Please READ the questions CAREFULLY and answer what is asked. You do not get points for giving an answer to a question that is not asked.
- You will be allowed ONE ATTEMPT only. The Mozilla Firefox internet browser is always recommended for university websites and services, including Moodle.
- A good and stable internet connection is necessary for the assessment. Please ensure this prior to commencement. In the event of internet issues, please take screen shots for evidence, contact TaSAC on 07 4930 9090 AND Noor (n.jarbou@cqu.edu.au) as soon as you can. We will endeavor to help sort out the situation.
Level of GenAI use allowed:
Level 1: You must not use Al at any point during the assessment. You must demonstrate your core skills and knowledge.
The 72-hour grace period does not apply to this assessment. All extension requests must be submitted via Moodle with appropriate documentation. In the absence of an approved extension, there will be no opportunity to complete the task after the assigned date.
Week 12 Friday (10 Oct 2025) 12:00 pm AEST
Assessment grade will be provided within 2 weeks of submission.
For the final assessment, your responses are scored according to the following criteria:
- Correctness, relevance and completeness of the response to the question asked.
No submission method provided.
- Describe the molecular alterations that can lead to the development and progression of human disease
- Articulate how molecular targeted therapies are developed and describe their therapeutic applications
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
