Course 2024-2025

Integrative Approach of Organelle Pathology [MSBMM214]

  • 3 credits
  • 12h
  • 1st quarter
Language of instruction: English

Learning outcomes

To know how to identify and integrate relevant pieces of scientific information to create a clearer picture of a biomedical question.

To know how apply scientific reasoning skills to formulate research hypotheses and to propose experimental strategies to investigate them.

 

Objectives

-        Acquire a general knowledge of how dysfunction at an intracellular organelle can affect various aspects of the cell physiology, and have deleterious effects leading to cellular, and organ dysfunctions and pathologies.

-        Acquire a better understanding of the link between the fundamental and more applied aspects of researches on organelle dysfunctions.

-        Further develop the ability to critically assess scientific data.

-        Acquire the ability to summarize and present critical findings related to a question of biomedical importance

-        Develop the reasoning and interpretation skills required to use the current knowledge about a biomedical question as a stepping-stone to propose/develop new research (project proposal).

 

Content

Biomedical researchers are at the interface of multiple worlds, including those of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, academic research laboratories and medical facilities. They are often asked to master theoretical aspects of molecular and cellular mechanisms to translate them into new research avenues, for instance to uncover the molecular basis of diseases, to develop new diagnostic methods, identify new biomarkers, or improve therapeutic approaches.  

The aim of this course is to learn how to integrate theoretical and experimental concepts taught during the bachelor and then in the master curriculum in order to assess what is known about the causes and consequences of a given cellular dysfunction situation, and to identify the remaining unknowns. The students will be asked to identify the areas that still need further investigation and to propose a research project that could help answer unresolved question. In order to reach this objective, the course will be built around case stories involving molecular dysfunctions of subcellular organelles. 

 


Teaching methods

The students will be assigned a question/case to study.

This course will be organized as follows:

-        A first course will be organized to explain the objectives of the class and the teaching method, and hand out the questions/exercises on which the students will be asked to work

-        Throughout the semester, the students will then meet with the Professor to discuss their assignment and show the advancement of their respective tasks. Through these sessions, the students will be taught how to collect, interpret, integrate, summarize and use the data that they have gathered. Within each topic, emphasis will be placed on the identification of questions that have not yet been answered by the scientific community, and on the proposition of putative research strategies to investigate these questions. The students will be asked to consign their work in a written report.

-        Eventually, the students will turn into teachers. They will present their integrative approach to the whole class, explain how they found the answers to the initial question(s), what are their conclusions and which future direction they would recommend following to work on unresolved question in a professional setting. Their fellow classmates, as well as the teacher, will question them on their work.

N.B. The teachning method may be adapted depending on the evolution of the COVID-19 situation.

Evaluations

A note will be compiled from:

-        The assessment of the involvement, general understanding of the question, and ability of each student to integrate the different pieces of data and to propose ideas (assessment made during meetings).

-        The quality of a written report

-        The teaching/presentation skills of the students and their ability to answer clearly and accurately to questions relating to their work.

N.B. The evaluation method may be adapted depending on the evolution of the COVID-19 situation.

The exact modalities of the evaluation are likely to be modified during the preparation of the examination schedules, depending on the practical constraints with which the faculty administration may be confronted, or in the event of illness / force majeure / encroachment with an internship, or because of the health situation related to the coronavirus.

Language of instruction

English

Location for course

NAMUR

Organizer

Faculté de médecine
rue de Bruxelles
61
5000 NAMUR
P. 081724347
F. 081724327
administration-medecine@unamur.be

Degree of Reference

Master's Degree