COURSES
* Biol 3312 Immunology
Description of Course Content: Understanding the immune response, cellular and humoral immunity, effector mechanisms, immune system in health and disease.
Student Learning Outcomes: This course is designed to acquaint students with fundamental cellular processes involved in the generation of an immune response. It will provide students with detailed knowledge of the cells and organs of the immune system, their organization and diversity, and their specialized functions at different anatomical locations. The importance of immune cell receptors and cytokines in cellular interactions and co-ordination of immunological mechanisms is also emphasized. The intended learning outcomes are as follows. By the end of the course students should have knowledge of; • The concepts of natural and acquired immunity and their roles and interaction in immune responses • The functions and properties of different cell types and organs that comprise the immune system • The processes involved in immune cell development • The assembly and expression of antigen receptor molecules during lymphocyte development • Cellular interactions and activation of immune cells in response to foreign antigen and/or “danger signals” and cytokines • Immune memory and tolerance
* Biol 5309 Immunology
Description of Course Content: Understanding the immune response, cellular and humoral immunity, effector mechanisms, immune system in health and disease.
* Biol 4312 Introduction to Virology
Description of Course Content: This course is an introduction to molecular virology and the importance of viruses in human disease. It covers the methods available to study virus architecture, genome structure, replication strategies and virus interactions with cellular factors.
Student Learning Outcomes: Viruses have a major impact on humanity. They cause a number of acute diseases which can be serious or even life-threatening, but can also cause long-term complications such as paralysis, are involved in the induction of some cancers and may even cause some forms of diabetes and heart disease. The introduction of molecular approaches over the past 20 years has transformed our understanding of viruses and has provided a number of routes to the development of vaccines and anti-virus therapy. This course will give an introduction to the unique nature and importance of viruses then will show, using a number of detailed, specific examples, how molecular approaches are used in their study and what are the results of these approaches. The course will highlight molecular features which are critical in the induction of disease and also which current approaches are likely to lead to novel ways of controlling virus infections. The intended learning outcomes are as follows. By the end of the course students should have knowledge of; • Describe the differences in virus architecture and how these may be used to classify viruses • Demonstrate the principles of molecular virology using specific examples • Explain how gene expression is modulated in different virus – host cell systems • Discuss some of the strategies adopted by viruses to replicate and express their genetic information • Discuss the role of viruses in disease and how this relates to molecular interactions with the infected cell • Discuss how an understanding of virus infections opens up the possibility of novel therapeutic approaches • Design viral vectors for use in gene therapy • Apply newly acquired knowledge of virus replication and host cell interactions in the development of antiviral agents
* Biol 5304 Virology
Description of Course Content: This course is an introduction to molecular virology and the importance of viruses in human disease. It covers the methods available to study virus architecture, genome structure, replication strategies and virus interactions with cellular factors.