Immunology and Microbiology

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.

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.

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.

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.

Ever wonder whether the latest headlines about ‘good bacteria’ are true or Just hype? This course will cover the science behind the news and will address how the human microbiome Is shaping our understanding of health, disease, and medical treatments. Topics will Include current technologies being used to study the microbiome, microbial diversity, mucosal immunity and Immunotolerance as well as the Impact of diet on the microbiome. The course will explore how dysbiosis of the microbiome contributes to human diseases, such as obesity, diabetes, and cancer. Students will discuss how increased understanding of the microbiome impacts our usage of probiotics, preblotics, and antibiotics. This course Is designed for postdoctoral Fellows, postbacs, graduate students, and other Individuals who are Interested in expanding their understanding of the microbiome and probiotics In health and disease. By the end of the course, students should have an understanding of the Integral role of the microbiome In promoting human health and of how dysbiosis contributes to disease.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

“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.

The objective of this course is to provide a survey of recent advances in immunology to students who have already had a basic immunology course. The course is offered as a series of lectures by NIH researchers, covering recent concepts of innate and adaptive immune responses, lymphocyte development and function, the genetic and biochemical basis of immune receptors and effector molecules. Recent research using biochemical, genetic, and cell biology approaches to immune function will be discussed in the context of experimental results. Grades will be based on take-home mid-term and final exams as well as on a short review-style paper on a topic related to the course.

This is an advanced immunology course designed for those individuals who have had a basic immunology course at FAES or elsewhere. The course is a learning opportunity for postdoctoral Fellows, graduate students, postbacs, and others who wish to gain more knowledge in contemporary immunology. The course offers a chance to meet leaders in the field. Experts of theNIH immunology community contribute their time to this series of 30 one-hour lectures (two lectures delivered in each evening session). Topics include immunity to viruses, bacteria, fungi, parasites, immune systems of the gut, lung and skin, vaccines, autoimmune diseases, asthma, immune deficiencies, tumor immunology, dendritic cells, innate lymphocytes, and cytokines.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

This course will explore the mechanistic and evolutionary relationship between viruses and their hosts with an emphasis on human viruses. We will discuss basic mechanisms of viral replication as well as the host defenses to counteract viruses such as adaptive and innate immunity. We will also talk about the development of vaccines and antivirals in a historical context and explore the mechanistic details of various vaccine platforms and antivirals. Other topics discussed include the discussion on the viruses in our genome (endogenous viruses) and their evolution and the tools to study viral evolution.

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.

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. 

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.