GCC - 516 Foundations in Biomedical Sciences

The core curriculum GCC 516 is a foundation course encompassing the areas of tissue, cell and molecular biology. The course is 7 credit hours consisting of five parts to be offered sequentially. Graduate education in the biomedical sciences is ever changing to adopt and accommodate recent developments in the field. To better equip students to cope with the emergence of evolving diseases and their pathophysiologies, a single discipline-based curriculum is being changed to foundation courses in an integrated curriculum structure. In addition to classroom didactic lecture sessions, these courses will also reinforce basic concepts of biological processes through break-out discussions and hands-on sessions. Topics of the core courses are selected and arranged in such a way that after completion of the courses, students will be ready to enter any of the specific areas of the IBS PhD and MS programs. The approach of the proposed course includes the introduction of basic organ systems and processes of the human body followed by cellular and molecular regulation of their functions in health and disease. Of the three main parts, molecular biology constitutes the last part of the courses. Thus, students will be able to apply immediately the knowledge and techniques of molecular biology to their dissertation or thesis work. Finally, in designing the course, special emphasis was given to avoid duplication among topics and it will save the valuable academic time of the students and thus, they will have more time available for their lab work. Readings and other assignments will be provided on Blackboard. The students will review material and generate questions that will be the focus of interactive small group sessions. Retake Counts for Credit: No. Pass/No Pass Grading Allowed: No. Credit(s): 7