Course Descriptions

Fundamentals of Immunology: Spring I

David Farrar, PhD, Christoph Wuelfing, PhD, Chandrashekhar Pasare, PhD  
Credit: 1.5 hours   

This course consists of an integrated series of lectures designed to familiarize students with cellular, molecular, and biochemical aspects of the development of the immune system and the immune response. The course focuses on the development of the immune system and the function of its major components.

Cell and Molecular Immunology: Spring I

Anne Satterthwaite, PhD, Nancy Monson, PhD 
Credit: 1.5 hours

This course consists of an integrated series of lectures designed to familiarize students with cellular, molecular and biochemical aspects of the development of the immune system and the immune response. The first half of the course focuses on the immune system and the function of its major components. The second half focuses on how the various components are integrated during the response to infectious agents, how the system is naturally perturbed in diseases of autoimmunity and immunodeficiency, and how the system can be controlled therapeutically.

Clinical Immunology: Fall II

Credit: 1.5 hours
Anne Satterthwaite, PhD, Nancy Monson, PhD

Clinical Immunology is an advanced immunology course in which fundamental immunology concepts are both reinforced and extended through the study of human diseases of the immune system. Diseases discussed in this course include immunodeficiencies, lymphoproliferative disorders, hypersensitivity, and autoimmunity (both systemic and organ specific). Discussion focuses on clinical presentations, mechanisms (including genetics), and the therapeutic approaches used to treat them. 

The course format includes brief lecture time and extended discussion of case studies of each disease.  Didactic lectures on the basic concepts of tumor immunology, vaccine development, and transplantation are also included in this course.  Students must have passed both Fundamentals of Immunology and Cell and Molecular Immunology to take this course.

Immunology of Infectious Disease: Fall II

Felix Yarovinsky, MD
Credit: 1.5 hours   

This course examines the host/parasite relationship from both the standpoint of the pathogenic organism and the human host. Emphasis is placed on molecular and cellular mechanisms that contribute to and provide resistance to disease. In general, this course surveys a broad range of pathogenic organisms, including bacteria, viruses, fungi, nematodes, and unicellular eukaryotic parasites.

Immunology Research Principles: Fall II

Lora Hooper, PhD
Credit: 1.5 hours 

This course focuses on the logic of experimental design and the development of scientific communication skills, with particular emphasis on writing skills. Students design, compose, and present their own research proposals and evaluate their colleagues' proposals in small-group discussion sessions with the aid of faculty advisors. 

Introduction to Applied Bioinformatics: Fall II

Richard Scheuermann, PhD  
Credit: 1.5 hours   

Basic, translational, and clinical research have become data intensive enterprises. In order to maximize the value of the information resulting from these research studies, computational methods are playing an increasingly important role in the management, integration, and analysis of research data. In this course, we will provide an overview of available bioinformatics resources and computational methods, and how they are applied to support biomedical research. The course will cover topics including public database resources, data standards for knowledge representation, comparative sequence analysis, biological network and pathway analysis, gene expression microarrays, and RNASeq