UPENN Biomedical Graduate Studies|biom 502

BIOM 502 Molecular Basis of Disease I

Course Directors:

Carolyn Cambor, MD camborc@uphs.upenn.edu

Mitch Lewis, PhD lewis@mail.med.upenn.edu

BGS Coordinator

Colleen Dunn dunncoll@mail.med.upenn.edu

Course Dates:

Each week: “Guided” independent study

Each Thursday, 8-10 AM: Group discussion with faculty

NOTE: Class WILL be held on March 8, 2007 during Spring Break

Class WILL NOT be held on March 15, 2007

Group discussion locations:

January 11, February 8 and March 8, 2007 Stemmler 102A

Rest of the semester Stellar Chance 204

Preparation, attendance and participation at all group discussions is expected.

Website:

Blackboard site through BGS: https://courseweb.library.upenn.edu/

On-line lectures (VC2000) www.cu2000.med.upenn.edu

(upper left, drop down to “BGS” then 502)

Grading:

Successful completion of BIOM 502 includes:

1. Preparation, attendance and participation in all group discussions

2. Completion of a 3-5 page paper at the end of the course.

You will either be provided a list of topics to choose from or you will select a topic that interests you. Further details will be provided.

3. Paper due date: May 4, 2007

Syllabus Material:

Each Thursday at the discussion group, you will receive a handout that contains the materials you will need for the following week.

Resources:

As you proceed through this course you will see we use a similar approach to each disease. First you need to know what organ is involved in the disease. Then you need to find out where it is located in the body and what it looks like (anatomy). Then you need to learn what the cells of the organ look like (histology) and how the cells work together to perform the normal function of the organ (physiology). Once you understand how the normal organ works, you can proceed to investigate the mechanisms involved in the disease and the changes in structure and function that occur with the disease (pathophysiology & pathology).

There are many resources available for you to learn this information. Here are some books you will find useful as you start off. All of these are on reserve in the Biomedical library or can be purchased from Dolbey’s or on-line through amazon.com.

BOOKS

1. A medical dictionary

Stedman’s or Dorlands or Google the terms you don’t know.

2. Anatomy:

Atlas of Human Anatomy

Frank Netter, MD **The Classic Anatomic Text**

Saunders; ISBN-10: 1416036997

Gray’s Anatomy

Churchill Livingstone; ISBN: 0-443-04560-7

3. Histology:

Human Histology, third edition

Alan Stevens, James Lowe. Elsevier-Mosby; Philadelphia, 2005.

ISBN 0-3230-3663-5

Great book for beginners. Excellent images, graphics.

Wheater’s Functional Histology

HG Burkitt, B Young, JW Heath

Churchill Livingstone. ISBN: 0-443-04691-3

4. Physiology:

Medical Physiology, Updated Edition (2004)

Walter F. Boron and Emile L. Boulpaep

ISBN-10: 1416023283

5. Pathology: 2 choices

Basic Pathology, 7th Edition, 2003

Vinay Kumar et al. Saunders /Elsevier. ISBN 0-7216-9274-5

This is the smaller version of the classic pathology text, Robbins Pathologic Basis of Disease. This will be suitable for an initial investigation into most diseases.

Robbins Pathologic Basis of Disease, 7th Edition, 2005

Vinay Kumar et al. Saunders / Elsevier

ISBN 0-7216-0187-1

This is the “gold standard” of pathology textbooks. Loaded with details, excellent images and graphics.

6. Pathophysiology:

There is not a “beginner” level book that I am aware of. There are 2 classic books for Medicine that are widely used by physicians and physicians in training:

Cecil’s Textbook of Medicine

ISBN: 072169652X

Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine, 2004

ISBN: 0071402357

Also, our understanding of disease mechanisms is changing so rapidly, that on-line resources may be more helpful in finding current reviews of specific diseases (see list below).

7. Immunology:

Immunologic mechanisms are involved in many diseases. If you don’t have a background in Immunology, or need a refresher, try the following book to get you started:

Cellular and Molecular Immunology, 2005

Abul K. Abbas and Andrew H. Lichtman

ISBN: 1-4160-2389-5

8. Microbiology:

Infectious agents cause many diseases. For a good introductory book on microbiology, try the following:

Medical Microbiology, A LANGE Medical Book

George F. Brooks, Janet S. Butel, Stephen A. Morse

Appleton & Lange

ISBN: 0-8385-6316-3

9. Pharmacology:

Goodman and Gillman: The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics.

McGraw Hill Professional

ISBN-10: 0071354697

A comprehensive and large textbook. An excellent reference book.

Melmon and Morrelli’s: Clinical Pharmacology.

McGraw Hill Medical

ISBN-10: 0071054065

A smaller and more manageable textbook

Lippincott’s Illustrated Reviews: Pharmacology

Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins

ISBN-10: 0781741181

Excellent synthesis and review text.

ON-LINE RESOURCES:

1. Up To Date OnLine: www.utdol.com

Penn has a site license, so it is free if accessed through a Penn computer or the library. Great reviews of most diseases. Regularly updated. Used frequently by physicians.

2. PubMed: www. pubmed.gov

Easy search engine for medical related articles.

3. Medline /Ovid : access through library site

Another search engine for medical related articles.

4. Google – if you don’t know where to start, just Google the term and see what comes up. You will likely get pointed in the right direction through one or more of the sites you are directed to.

5. Library reference desk. Ask for help from the librarian to search the on- line indices.

Course Evaluations:

We need your feedback! You will be asked to evaluate the activities in each week of this course. This is a new course for graduate students and we need your input to identify areas of strength and weakness. Help us improve the course by telling us what you think!

Course Mechanics

Every Thursday we will meet from 8-10AM for a small group discussion.

We will meet in Stellar Chance 204 except on January 11, February 8 and March 8, 2007, when we will meet in Stemmler Hall, 102A

Each Thursday you will be given a packet of materials to use in preparation for the next week’s discussion group. There will be background information for you to learn on your own, as well as specific preparation that is needed for the discussion group. Then during the discussion group, the information from the week will be reviewed and applied to clinical situations.

The materials for this course come from a variety of sources. Some are from the medical school (on-line lectures, some lab exercises); some are newly developed for this course and some are articles from recent journals.

You can choose which materials suit your learning style the best. If you enjoy watching lectures on-line, you may do so. But, if you’d rather read a book, you may do that instead. Some people may do a bit of both. Since the students for this course come from a variety of graduate groups and backgrounds, there may be some material that you already know. Please let us know when this happens. Don’t waste time on information you are comfortable with – move on to something else in the week that you don’t know.

You can learn the material individually, or in pairs or small groups. Whatever works best for you.

What is BIOM 502 all about?

BIOM 502 is a course that explores 4 different diseases; diabetes mellitus, colon cancer, atherosclerosis and chronic myelogenous leukemia. We start each disease unit by learning about the normal anatomy, histology and physiology of the organ(s) involved in the disease. Then we learn the pathophysiology behind the disease, focusing on the molecular events, as much as are known. Students who have taken BIOM 501 will see that many of the basic processes they learned in that course will be seen again in this one. After we understand the mechanisms behind the disease, we discuss current approaches to treat the disease. Finally, we will look at current research efforts in the area and discuss future research that might be done to enhance our understanding of the disease or improve treatment of the disease. This approach to the study of disease is a paradigm that you can use to learn about any disease that interests you.

Have fun and learn a lot!

Carolyn & Mitch