IMMU 004
Cellular Immunology: Principles and Methods
The objective of this workshop is to learn, through lecture and laboratory sessions, those research approaches which form the foundation of our understanding of the immune system, with particular emphasis on the cellular elements and their roles in the orchestration of the immune response. This field is contributing to novel therapies and is in a high state of flux, so due attention will be given to new directions.
Credits
-IMMU 024
Flow Cytometry Data Analysis and Visualization
This workshop provides practical approaches for the understating flow cytometry data, its analysis, Flow Cytometry Standard (FCS) format, and to produce visualizations for presentation and/or publication. During this two-day workshop, students are introduced to data management and quality control, processing of data with the package FlowJo, generate figures and statistical data for effective communication. This workshop is tailored to researchers with limited flow cytometry experience, researchers doing less that 10-parameter cytometry, and experience researchers interested in becoming familiar with functional assay data, cytometry data model, and other areas of cytometry. At the end of the course, you will be able to import flow cytometry data, evaluate the quality of the data, extract statistics, and produce clear figures. Participants would learn to use FlowJo with practical examples.
Credits
-Prerequisites
Learning Objectives:
- Import data to FlowJo and evaluate its quality
- Compensation Identify examples of good and bad data display
- Extract statistics Produce clear figures
- Analyze a simple immunostaining experiment
- Analyze a Cell Cycle experiment Analyze a Functional assay experiment
- Analyze a Cytometry Bead Assays experiment
- Effective and ineffective data visualization
IMMU 101
Introduction to Cancer Biology
The six Hallmarks of Cancer were first presented by Douglas Hanahan and Robert Weinberg in 2000 to organize the complexity of cancer into broader principles based on function. In 2011, the Hallmarks of Cancer were updated to ten to include additional hallmarks based on advances in research in the role of the tumor microenvironment in carcinogenesis. This course will examine each of the ten Hallmarks of Cancer, going into detail about the biological functions and major signaling pathways of each, as well as mechanisms to target them. Overall, an introduction to the hallmarks of cancer will provide an excellent baseline of knowledge about cancer characteristics and why they are targeted for therapy.
Credits
1Learning Objectives:
- Describe how the hallmarks of cancer contribute to the abnormality of cancer.
- Compare different therapeutic options targeting various hallmarks of cancer.
- Explain why targeting multiple hallmarks has therapeutic benefit.
IMMU 102
Emerging Coronaviruses
Emerging microbial pathogens are of increasing concern both nationally and internationally with the potential to cause widespread morbidity and mortality at an unprecedented level. The current outbreak of COVID-19 provides evidence that unknown microbial agents have the ability to emerge from their natural hosts to spread, adapt, and cause disease on a global scale. This course will investigate the microbiological, environmental, and social factors that contribute to emergence of novel coronavirus outbreaks (SARS, MERS, COVID-19), and review the basic biology, diagnostics, immunology, potential therapies, and preventive strategies necessary to control and prevent these outbreaks.
Credits
1Learning Objectives:
- Describe the basic biology, pathogenesis and epidemiology of novel coronaviruses.
- Review the laboratory methods used to identify and study these pathogens.
- Discuss the environmental factors that allow for emergence of novel coronaviruses.
IMMU 103
COVID-19 Vaccines: A Comparative Approach
By the end of 2019, a new coronavirus emerged in Asia and quickly spread around the world. This virus, now known as SARS-CoV-2, has become a global public health emergency due to its high death toll. Understanding the virus's physiology and developing vaccines to prevent more infections are currently main global scientific efforts. This course will explore the cutting-edge technologies used to create COVID-19 vaccines and compare the mechanisms of the different types of vaccines now available. Overall, this course will provide an overview of the vaccine development field's current state and provide a glimpse of the vaccines that will protect the population from the virus's new variants in the future.
Credits
1Learning Objectives:
- Describe the structure and physiological effects of the virus SARS-CoV-2.
- Describe the different scientific approaches used to develop COVID-19 vaccines.
- Compare the COVID-19 vaccines available in the US and the rest of the world.
IMMU 325
The Human Microbiome: New Concepts in Health and Disease
Credits
1Prerequisites
general knowledge of biology or consent of Instructor.
Learning Objectives:
- Identify and compare Important constituents of the human microbiome ■ Describe technological methods used In microbiome analysis Assess the effects of probiotics and preblotics on human health and disease Evaluate the contribution of the microbiome In various human disease states
IMMU 339
Advanced Cancer Biology
Cancer is an ancient disease with specific characteristics. Students taking this course will discuss the genetic basis of cancer, the initiation and progression of cancer, aberrant signal transduction in tumor cells and metastasis. This course will also have a journal-club component, which will enable students to read and discuss scientific journal articles related to the course.
Credits
2Prerequisites
The above course(s) or equivalent background knowledge.
Learning Objectives:
At the end of this course students will be able to :
- Identify cancer biology terms and apply terms and information in textbook to case studies.
- Differentiate various aspects that characterize a cancerous vs normal cell.
- Identify potential therapeutic strategies using knowledge of various effectors in cancer cells.
- Develop a detailed scientific presentation to include background information, experimental design, and findings.
IMMU 369
Epidemics, Vaccines, and Prevention
When a large number of people become ill due to the same infectious agent, it is called an epidemic—or, if the disease spreads to affect even greater numbers globally, a pandemic. For example, the Bubonic Plague was active in the fourteenth century in Europe, killing almost one-third of the continent’s population, while the 1918 flu killed an estimated 50 million people worldwide. More recently, the Ebola epidemic in West Africa showed that our global response to a potential pandemic is slow and lacking in early detection systems and global coordination. Vaccines, arguably one of the most important scientific breakthroughs of modern times, have allowed us to defend ourselves against rampant infections. The world community has managed to eradicate smallpox, and is close to eradicating polio. For both, the key tool was the implementation of routine vaccinations. This course will explore historic and current threats by infectious diseases with epidemic or pandemic potential as well as strategies to prevent and control outbreaks. The course will emphasize the important role of vaccines and will cover the immunological mechanisms on which successful vaccines are based. Vaccines currently in use and major challenges in novel vaccine development and implementation will be also discussed.
Credits
1Learning Objectives:
- List major historical epidemics and their impact on society
- Discuss how both genetic mutations and changes in the environment together with human social behavior can give rise to new infectious diseases
- Explain how vaccines can help prevent infections
- Compare different types of vaccine strategies and their underlying immunological mechanisms
- Assess the potential of a developmental vaccine candidate
IMMU 403
Basic Principles of Immunology and Hypersensitivity
The immune system encompasses a broad, highly interactive network of cells, tissues, and anatomical structures that protects us from infection and cancer, yet can also induce autoimmune disease. The course will explore the genetics, cell biology, and physiology that govern both our resistance to infection and the induction of autoimmune disease and allergy. Distinctions between the innate/natural immune system and the adaptive immune system will be discussed. The role of intestinal microbiota, inflammatory reactions, and vaccines will be also studied. Central to the discussions will be the role of cellular subsets (B cells, T cells, macrophages), serum proteins (immunoglobulins and complement), and cell surface receptors whose coordinated activities comprise the immune response. Specific immune pathologies or deficiencies associated with human disease will be also highlighted.
Credits
2Prerequisites
Familiarity with cell biology.
Learning Objectives:
- Summarize key cellular components of the immune response.
- Distinguish the function of innate/natural and adaptive immune systems.
- Recall how the key antigen recognition molecules (TCR, BCR) arise from genetic recombination, and how the specificity of the immune repertoire is shaped.
- Discuss the role of inflammation during infection, autoimmunity, and cancer.
- Illustrate how cytokine activity affects cell signaling and function.
- Predict how the immune system plays a role in the resistance to infection, induction of allergies, autoimmunity, and cancer.
IMMU 411
Immunological Memory: New Insights Into Influencing Factors and Mechanisms
When you are infected with a pathogen, your body generates a protective immune response to control and eliminate that threat. Months or even years later, you get infected again, but now your body response is faster and stronger, and you don’t get sick anymore. This is called immune cell memory. It is well established that T and B lymphocytes are the main memory cells of the adaptive immune response, however recent studies have shown that cells from our innate immune system may also be “trained” to respond more efficiently to a second encounter with a pathogen. This course will bring the latest insights into immune memory, highlighting the difference between innate and adaptive immunological memory and how factors such as vaccines, diet, and infectious diseases influence memory development.
Credits
2Prerequisites
The above course or equivalent graduate-level immunology course or knowledge.
Learning Objectives:
- Define and distinguish innate and adaptive immune cell memory.
- Recognize recent discoveries in immune memory, specifically how infectious diseases, vaccines, and diet influence memory development
- Predict how innate or adaptive memory responses may be protective, such as by limitation of infection, or deleterial, such as by hyperinflammation in tissues.
- Integrate this knowledge in different areas of research or in your daily life.
IMMU 418
Cancer Immunology
Cancer immunotherapy is a rapidly advancing field in research and in the clinic, which focusses on the interface between the immune system, inflammation and cancer biology. To advance research in this field an understanding of each of these systems and how they interact to suppress or promote cancer progression is vital. Students taking this class will gain an understanding of how the tumor microenvironment alters and evades the immune system and the contribution of inflammation in promoting cancer progression. This course will serve as an introduction to further studies in cancer immunotherapies.
Topics covered:
- Tumor microenvironment – the interactions between immune cells and cancer cells.
- Polarization of Macrophages and Recruitment of Inflammatory Cells by Cancer Cells.
- Mechanisms of Tumor- Induced Tolerance/Escape from the Immune System.
- Immunosuppression by Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells (MDSCs)
- Innate immune system in cancer and therapies utilizing cytokines and interferons.
- Cancer Vaccines: preventative and therapeutic.
- Viruses and cancer: cancer-causing viruses (eg HPV, HTLV1), oncolytic viruses and use of viruses in gene therapy.
- Anti-cancer antibodies (including ADCs) to target cancer cells.
Credits
1Learning Objectives:
- Students will list the mechanisms by which cancer cells evade the immune system.
- Students will describe the relationships between viruses and cancer, and give examples of cancer vaccines.
- Students will explain how cancer cells interact with and ‘corrupt’ immune cells in the tumour microenvironment.
- Students will demonstrate how the innate immune system can be utilized in cancer therapy.
IMMU 419
Cancer Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy for cancer treatment has become a popular and important topic of study, and has been refined over recent years as our understanding of the interactions between tumors and the immune system improves. This seven week course will provide a brief background of the relationship between tumors, their microenvironment, and the immune system, before diving into the history of the earliest immune therapies, and making our way through the progression and development of newer therapeutic approaches. This course will focus on different ways to train our immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells, including vaccines, chimeric antigen receptor therapy, antibody therapy, adoptive cell transfer, oncolytic viruses, as well as clinical trials and other more theoretical methods which are still being developed with current research. This course will provide a current overview of immunotherapeutic approaches to treating cancer for those with a working knowledge of cancer and immunology.
Credits
1Prerequisites
Familiarity with basic immunology is strictly required; prior college-level coursework in immunology is highly encouraged.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe how the immune system detects tumors, and how cancer cells can evade this detection
- Explain why various mechanisms of immune escape are exploitable with therapeutic targeting
- Discuss the benefits and fallbacks of immunotherapies from past and present
- Demonstrate where the field requires improvement moving into the future
IMMU 420
Advanced Immunology and Host Microbe Interactions
“Immunology taught me that germs are bad, so why do I feel sick when I take antibiotics? What’s a monoclonal antibody? Why is transplantation so complicated?” If you’ve found yourself wondering these questions, which are typically beyond the scope of an introductory immunology course, this is the perfect course for you. IMMU 420 builds upon the foundations laid in introductory immunology courses such as IMMU 403. We explore concepts such as auto-immunity, transplantation, and mucosal immunity while also introducing the concept of host pathogen interactions: pathogenic and beneficial. We also discuss therapeutic modulators of the immune system, common laboratory techniques as practical applications of the immune concepts covered.
Credits
2Prerequisites
The above course(s) or a solid foundation in immunology.
Learning Objectives:
- Identify and discuss the mechanisms used by natural killer cells to guard against infection throughout the body. Discuss the role of NK cells in innate immune defenses at various tissue sites.
- Compare and contrast the players of mucosal immunity versus systemic immunity to distinguish the difference between infections and vaccines at mucosal surfaces.
- Distinguish between and classify various types of autoimmune diseases.
- Predict the outcome of transplantation after examination of various histocompatibility markers. Predict how various histocompatibility markers can adversely affect transplantation.
- Devise a treatment plan for hypothetical patients with autoimmune diseases based on student knowledge of immune modulating drugs.
- Discuss some of the ways the microbiome influences the immune system of the host.
- Set up theoretical experiments using common immune system experimental protocols to test provided hypotheses.
IMMU 521
Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms of Immunity I
Credits
2Prerequisites
IMMU 403 Basic Principles of Immunology and Hypersensitivity or equivalent graduate-level immunology
course.
Learning Objectives:
- Survey recent advances in immunology
- Discuss lymphocyte development and interactions, receptor signal transduction, genetic and biochemical basis of immune receptors and effector function
IMMU 522
Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms of Immunity II
Credits
2Prerequisites
previous immunology course or working knowledge of basic immunology, IMMU 521 or equivalent.
Learning Objectives:
- Learn advanced immunological concepts from world authorities at NIH
- Apply these concepts to research projects, medicine, and management
- Identify fundamental mechanisms of innate and adaptive immunity
- Learn advanced principles of host defense against pathogens and the relationship with commensals
- Understand the bases of autoimmunity and immunodeficiency
MICR 101
Introduction to Virology
This course overviews the origin, definition, classification, life cycle, and structure of viruses. Students will define basic virology terms to prepare to continue their studies in more advanced virology classes. This course will discuss viruses causing pandemics of the 20th and 21st centuries to emphasize the importance of studying and understanding viruses.
Credits
1Learning Objectives:
- Define viruses and reflect on theories of their origin.
- Break down the life cycle of a virus.
- Link virus groups to selected specifics in the life cycle of various viruses.
- Associate historically important outbreaks, epidemics, and pandemics with viruses and related pathologies.
- Discuss the importance of vaccination.
MICR 317
Molecular Virology I
This course provides an introduction to the molecular virology of virus infection and progeny virus production and spread. It details molecular mechanisms of virus entry, replication, transcription, translation, and propagation in the host. Starting with the molecular structure of select viruses, the course will focus on strategies used by various viruses for successful infection and propagation, including molecular mechanism of host defense and its evasion by the viruses. Select viruses important to human health (e.g., influenza virus, papillomavirus, HIV) will be considered in detail, highlighting recent advances in the understanding of their biology and pathogenesis. The lectures will include discussions of current strategies for vaccine development and viruses as vectors for gene transfer in functional genomics and gene therapy.
Credits
1Prerequisites
Understanding of biochemistry, molecular biology, and microbiology or permission from the instructor.
Learning Objectives:
- Acquire fundamental and practical knowledge of virology from the molecular perspective
- Revisit the question of whether viruses are living organisms throughout the course
- Discuss how viruses infect a host, and the molecular determinants of infection and pathogenesis
- Identify gaps in our knowledge of virology and discuss how to fill those gaps
- Discover how the study of viruses is helping usher in the age of synthetic biology
MICR 318
Molecular Virology II
This course provides an introduction to the molecular virology of virus infection and progeny virus production and spread. It details molecular mechanisms of virus entry, replication, transcription, translation, and propagation in the host. Starting with the molecular structure of select viruses, the course will focus on strategies used by various viruses for successful infection and propagation, including molecular mechanism of host defense and its evasion by the viruses. Select viruses important to human health (e.g., influenza virus, papillomavirus, HIV) will be considered in detail, highlighting recent advances in the understanding of their biology and pathogenesis. The lectures will include discussions of current strategies for vaccine development and viruses as vectors for gene transfer in functional genomics and gene therapy.
Credits
1Prerequisites
The above course(s) or permission from the instructor.
Learning Objectives:
- Acquire fundamental and practical knowledge of virology from the molecular perspective
- Revisit the question of whether viruses are living organisms throughout the course
- Discuss how viruses infect a host, and the molecular determinants of infection and pathogenesis
- Identify gaps in our knowledge of virology and discuss how to fill those gaps
- Discover how the study of viruses is helping usher in the age of synthetic biology
MICR 325
Molecular Microbiology I
This course will cover concepts in molecular microbiology, including microbial cell biology, bacterial biochemistry, bacterial genetics and genomics, and molecular interactions with host or microbiome communities. Select bacteria important to human health and disease (e.g. Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa) will be considered in detail, highlighting advances in the understanding of their biology and pathogenesis. During the course, students will read primary scientific literature that highlights evolving technologies and experimental approaches that enable a deeper understanding of molecular microbiology. Class sessions will include active student participation in discussions and case studies.
Credits
2Prerequisites
Introductory understanding of microbiology.
Learning Objectives:
- Explain fundamental and advanced principles of molecular microbiology, including microbial cell biology, bacterial biochemistry, bacterial genetics and genomics, and cell-cell interactions
- Identify key questions in the field and analyze how these apply to biomedical research and product development
- Interpret and analyze scientific literature in molecular microbiology
- Apply new knowledge to discuss case studies relevant to molecular microbiology
MICR 326
Molecular Microbiology II
This course will cover concepts in molecular microbiology, including microbial cell biology, bacterial biochemistry, bacterial genetics and genomics, and molecular interactions with host or microbiome communities. Select bacteria important to human health and disease (e.g. Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa) will be considered in detail, highlighting advances in the understanding of their biology and pathogenesis. During the course, students will read primary scientific literature that highlights evolving technologies and experimental approaches that enable a deeper understanding of molecular microbiology. Class sessions will include active student participation in discussions and case studies.
Credits
2Prerequisites
The above course(s) or permission from the instructor.
Learning Objectives:
- Explain fundamental and advanced principles of molecular microbiology, including microbial cell biology, bacterial biochemistry, bacterial genetics and genomics, and cell-cell interactions
- Identify key questions in the field and analyze how these apply to biomedical research and product development
- Interpret and analyze scientific literature in molecular microbiology
- Apply new knowledge to discuss case studies relevant to molecular microbiology
MICR 418
Emerging Infectious Diseases I
Emerging infectious pathogens are predators that exploit changes in human biology, behavior, and the environment to overcome public health measures and host defenses. Domestic examples include Zika, Ebola, influenza, dengue, and West Nile virus. Hospital-acquired infections, usually multidrug resistant, take the lives of over 90,000 Americans annually. Vaccine-preventable diseases reemerge in populations at both ends of the wealth spectrum, such as tetanus or rabies among the world’s poorest children, measles or mumps among conscientious objectionists. In South America, dengue fever, schistosomiasis, leishmaniasis, and persistent childhood diarrhea feature prominently. In Sub-Saharan Africa, co-infections and drug resistance increasingly frustrate the struggle against malaria, tuberculosis, salmonellosis, and HIV/AIDS. In East Asia, the recent origin of novel influenza viruses, SARS, and pan-resistant gonorrhea meets a particularly interesting nexus of economic transformation, societal upheaval, and government policy. Additional complications include an arising pandemic of hepatitis C, promiscuous drug-resistant genetic elements, rolling waves of HIV, the unfolding effects of climate change, and, of course, the specter of biological weapons. The class will survey a wide range of pathogens whose emergence relates to contemporary human, microbiological, and environmental factors and will examine how microbes have overcome medical marvels that took 150 years to develop. Common themes will be developed from almost 50 examples of today’s emerging infectious diseases. The course will explore the spectacular opportunities for research science to liberate humanity from existing infectious diseases and prepare for the next emergence.
Credits
2Prerequisites
Interest in the interface of science and medicine, and, for credit students, willingness to make one class presentation on an emerging infectious disease chosen from a list.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand where, how, and why infectious diseases emerge
- Discuss over 50 emerging infections in the context of U.S. and global health
- Get to know the impact of infectious disease and disease control on human genetics, behavior, and society
- Explore how infectious disease molds human science, art, and society
- Gain insight into important new opportunities in infectious disease
MICR 419
Emerging Infectious Diseases II
Emerging infectious pathogens are predators that exploit changes in human biology, behavior, and the environment to overcome public health measures and host defenses. Domestic examples include Zika, Ebola, influenza, dengue, and West Nile virus. Hospital-acquired infections, usually multidrug resistant, take the lives of over 90,000 Americans annually. Vaccine-preventable diseases reemerge in populations at both ends of the wealth spectrum, such as tetanus or rabies among the world’s poorest children, measles or mumps among conscientious objectionists. In South America, dengue fever, schistosomiasis, leishmaniasis, and persistent childhood diarrhea feature prominently. In Sub-Saharan Africa, co-infections and drug resistance increasingly frustrate the struggle against malaria, tuberculosis, salmonellosis, and HIV/AIDS. In East Asia, the recent origin of novel influenza viruses, SARS, and pan-resistant gonorrhea meets a particularly interesting nexus of economic transformation, societal upheaval, and government policy. Additional complications include an arising pandemic of hepatitis C, promiscuous drug-resistant genetic elements, rolling waves of HIV, the unfolding effects of climate change, and, of course, the specter of biological weapons. The class will survey a wide range of pathogens whose emergence relates to contemporary human, microbiological, and environmental factors and will examine how microbes have overcome medical marvels that took 150 years to develop. Common themes will be developed from almost 50 examples of today’s emerging infectious diseases. The course will explore the spectacular opportunities for research science to liberate humanity from existing infectious diseases and prepare for the next emergence.
Credits
2Prerequisites
The above course(s) or permission from the instructor.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand where, how, and why infectious diseases emerge
- Discuss over 50 emerging infections in the context of U.S. and global health
- Get to know the impact of infectious disease and disease control on human genetics, behavior, and society
- Explore how infectious disease molds human science, art, and society
- Gain insight into important new opportunities in infectious disease
MICR 432
Human Virology I: Host Virus Relationships
Credits
2Prerequisites
College degree; knowledge of biology or consent of the instructor.
Learning Objectives:
- Outline the steps of the replication cycle for each viral genome type
- Explain viral evolutionary mechanisms and their contribution to the emergence and re-emergence of human viral diseases
- Distinguish between the roles of adaptive and innate immune systems during viral infections
- Compare and contrast different vaccine development strategies
- Discuss the mechanism of action of various antivirals targeting different phases of the viral replication cycle
- Illustrate the replication mechanisms of transposable elements and endogenous retroviruses
- Convey detailed concepts of a chosen virology topic to other people
MICR 433
Human Virology II: Viral Pathogenesis
This course will explore the epidemiology, pathogenesis, prevention and treatment of major human diseases caused by viruses with an emphasis on viral molecular biology. We will discuss in detail the replication cycle of clinically important viruses such as HIV, Hepatitis C, Influenza, Coronaviruses, Ebola and Zika. We will also talk about zoonosis and how it contributes to emerging of viral infections.
Credits
2Prerequisites
Learning Objectives:
- Illustrate the basic structures and replication strategies of the major classes of human viruses
- Give examples of viruses that can cause cancer in humans
- Compare and contrast the life cycle and epidemiology of viruses that cause hepatitis
- Discuss the immune evasion mechanisms utilized by HIV and Herpesviruses
- Give examples of emerging viral infections that jump from animals to humans
- Convey detailed concepts of a chosen virology topic to other people
MICR 440
Emerging Viruses I
Emerging viruses are of increasing concern both nationally and internationally with the potential to cause widespread morbidity and mortality at an unprecedented level. The current outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 and other Coronaviruses provide ample evidence that these viral agents have the ability to emerge from their natural hosts to spread, adapt, and cause epidemic disease on a global scale. The first part of this course will focus on the biological, immunological, environmental, and social factors that contribute to emergence of Coronaviruses (SARS-CoV-1, SARS-CoV-2, and MERS-CoV), seasonal influenza virus, and pandemic Influenza viruses. In addition, a review the current diagnostic, therapeutic, and preventive strategies will be discussed for these emerging pathogens.
Credits
2MICR 441
Emerging Viruses II
This a continuation of Emerging Viruses I course and will investigate additional emerging and re-emerging viruses associated with epidemic and pandemic potential, which include Ebola virus, Zika virus, West Nile virus, Chikungunya virus, Monkeypox virus, Nipah virus, Hanta virus, Dengue virus, Lassa Fever virus, Hendra virus, measles virus, and Enterovirus D68. This course will investigate the microbiological, environmental, and social factors that contribute to re-emergence of these viral agents as well as the current diagnostic, therapeutic, and preventive strategies being implemented.