innovations in drug development and discovery for a SPECIFIC mental illness, neurological disorder, or addiction.

Final Paper: (25%): You will conduct a comprehensive literature review (minimum of 5
scholarly articles) on the latest innovations in drug development and discovery for a
SPECIFIC mental illness, neurological disorder, or addiction. For example, if you choose to
report on addiction, you may need to specify cocaine addiction. If you choose a
neurological disorder, specify Parkinsons Disease, Huntingtons Disease, Epilepsy, Multiple
Sclerosis, Stroke, etc. If you choose a mental illness, specify Major Depressive Disorder,
Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia, etc. You must include a definition of the disorder, current
treatment methods as well as benefits and side-effects, an explanation as to why we are
seeking a new treatment, the researchers hypothesis on how the proposed new treatment will
work, and a discussion of limitations and future directions. Citation and reference formatting
will follow APA style. See the following website for guidelines on how to write a paper in
APA format: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

7-10 pages double spaced, Times New Roman, font size 12, 1 margins.
Minimum of 5 references required, and the paper should be in APA format and include a title
page, abstract page, body of work, and reference page.
1) Introduce/define the disorder and discuss the importance of this selection. Why did

you choose this disorder? One page or less.
2) Current treatment methods. (the bulk of your work; 5-7 pages)
a. How were these drugs studied? What animal model was used to look at relief of
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.

symptoms with treatment?
Discuss, where relevant, various aspects of pharmacokinetics (ADME).
You must discuss pharmacodynamics, mentioning specific known or hypothesized
action this drug has at target site.
What are the benefits of these treatments? Is one better than another for any
particular reason?
Where do these treatments fail?
What are some side-effects?
What are the effective and lethal doses?

3) Future directions for pharmacotherapy for treatment of this disorder.
a. What does the current body of literature suggest as a future direction? What

would be the new proposed mechanism of action? How will it improve current
treatment method?
b. What direction would you suggest in terms of pharmacodynamic action?
b.i. What would be the Trade name for your own drug? What route of
administration would you use and why?
4) Graphics or figures are welcomed but they do not count in the page number. You must

reference your tables or graphs; see APA citation link provided on syllabus.