CAMB 697 Biology of Stem Cells

CAMB 697: The Biology of Stem Cells

Directors:         Jonathan Epstein (epsteinj@mail.med.upenn.edu)

Ed Morrisey (emorrise@mail.med.upenn.edu)

Mitch Weiss (weissmi@email.chop.edu)

Description of the aims of the course: This course will be directed towards second year PhD, MD/PhD, and VMD/PhD graduate students as an elective course and is intended as an introduction and in-depth discussion course focused on the biology of stem cells.  The course will focus on basic mechanisms regulating self renewal, pluripotency and regeneration biology.  Topics will include biology of the niche, spermatogonial stem cells, embryonic stem cells, epigenetics and reprogramming, cancer stem cells, regeneration, tissue engineering and one session will focus on legal and ethical issues.  In addition, the course will focus on selected examples of adult stem cells with an introduction to translational medicine approaches involving stem cell biology.  Course instructors will ensure continuity and will be responsible for evaluating the students, while visiting experts from the Penn community will deliver specialized lectures, choose appropriate papers relevant to their topic, and direct the related discussion sessions.  In addition, the course will be integrated with a new Stem Cell Seminar series, whenever possible, and will provide the students with special interactions and access to visiting experts in the stem cell field. 

Proposed day, time, duration: We propose to schedule the class for 2 hours per week in the spring semester on Monday afternoons from 3-5 pm.  In addition, attendance of the Stem Cell seminar series held Tuesdays at 1:15 on alternating weeks will be mandatory for students in this class.

Class format: The class will alternate weekly between lecture and discussion formats. For each topic, the subject will first be discussed in lecture format. At the end of the lecture, 2 papers from the primary literature will be introduced for discussion the following week. This approach will ensure that the students have received the appropriate background for the discussion session. The instructor who delivers the lecture will return the following week to lead the discussion of the papers which will involve presentation of figures and follow up discussion by the students in a seminar style.  Hence, the class will be a combination of didactic lecture and seminar-style discussion and critical thinking.

Student assignments: Students will be assigned two papers related to the topics of discussion and will take turns on given weeks presenting these papers to the group.  However, all students will participate in presenting the data from these papers during the discussion part of the course.  In addition, each student will write a News and Views type report (2 pages) focusing on a selected topic in Stem Cell Biology. This writing assignment will incorporate concepts discussed in lecture and discussion session with the current understanding in the field.  Finally, students will be responsible for attending stem cell lectures and meeting with the visiting scientists at lunches or dinners sponsored by the Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

Grading criteria: Instructors will evaluate students based on class participation, presentations, and News and Views reports.

Prerequisites: BGS core courses.

Enrollment criteria: The course is open to all BGS students. Non-BGS students will be admitted only with the permission of the course directors.

Maximum enrollment: 15 students

Outline of topics to be covered:

Syllabus - Spring 2008