Applied

Basic

MINI COURSE IN TUMOR IMMUNOLOGY.

Yvonne Paterson, Ph.D. and James Riley, Ph.D.

TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS AND REGULATION OF LYMPHOCYTE DEVELOPMENT.

Warren Pear, M.D., Ph.D. and

Avinash Bhandoola, Ph.D.

This mini course will take the form of 2 broad topics. The first will cover the fundamental principles of tumor immunology and the second will focus on how to harness the immune system to eliminate cancer.  Each week has 6 contact hours 4 of which will involve didactic presentations/discussions and two of which will be in the form of journal club presentations by the students. Thus there will be 8 two hour lectures and four journal discussions. There will be one final exam that will take the form of a written, closed-book, in-class exam of three hours. However you will be allowed to take the exam questions home for two days to select the questions you wish to answer and formulate your answers before taking the exam.  Instructors include Drs. Riley, Paterson, Lee, Pear, June and Vonderheide.

This course covers the general principles of transcription and applies them to immune development.  The basic format is a one-hour lecture followed by a student-run journal club. Grades are based on journal club presentations, a short review article, and class participation.

Applied

Basic

EXPERIMENTS OF NATURE AND ENGINEERED IMMUNE DEFICIENCIES.  Peter Felsburg, V.M.D., Ph.D. and Kathleen Sullivan, M.D., Ph.D.

CELL BIOLOGY OF DENDRITIC CELLS.

Yair Argon, Ph.D., Janis Burkhardt, Ph.D., and Terri Laufer, M.D.

This course will explore inherited immune deficiencies seen in human and offer comparisons with murine models.  The mechanisms underlying disease will be discussed including signaling pathways and cell-cell interactions.  The format of the course is a combination of faculty lecture and student presentations.

The course will examine cell biological mechanisms that underlie the functions of dendritic cells. The format will be seminar style discussions of current papers with interspersed lectures to cover key points. The discussion of each topic will span basic research through clinical implications. Our goal will be to have in-depth discussions of basic ideas, without plodding through every figure, so that students develop the ability to read critically and assimilate the important information from the literature. Students will be graded based on participation in discussions and a brief paper/oral presentation.

Examples of topics that will be covered are:

1)         Generation and loading of antigenic peptides

2)         Mechanisms of cross-presentation

3)         Spatial ordering of signaling complexes

4)         Cell polarity and membrane domains

5)         Membrane-cytoskeleton interactions during DC migration and adhesion 

Applied

Basic

CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR BASIS OF INFLAMMATION AND IMMUNE MEDIATED DISEASES.  Ellen Puré, Ph.D.

LYMPHOCYTE HOMEOSTASIS AND SELECTION.  Michael Cancro, Ph.D.

The course will initially focus on the cellular components and molecular mechanisms generally involved in acute inflammation and the resolution of inflammation or transition to chronic inflammation.  Reading for each topic will include information from various sources that will provide the foundation for the discussions of the fundamental issues and two primary papers for the literature will be discussed in depth at each of these sessions. The remainder of the course will focus on the role of inflammation in the pathogenesis of a number of immune-mediated diseases (eg. cardiovascular disease/atherosclerosis; neurodegenerative diseases; asthma) and the role of inflammation in cancer.  Each student will choose a topic and lead that particular session which will include a presentation by the student who will then lead the discussion of 2 primary papers from the literature. 

Performance evaluation will be based on participation in class throughout the mini-course and on the formal presentations of the student to lead a discussion of a topic chosen in consultation with the course director.

        Upon completion of the minicourse in lymphocyte homeostasis and selection, you should be able to explain, discuss and critique the experimental approaches and evidence leading to our current understanding of 1) lymphocyte turnover and lifespan, 2) the negative and positive selection of lymphocytes during development; the selection/differentiation of developing lymphocytes into functional subsets; the factors regulating the success and survival of mature lymphocyte pools.  In addition, we hope to hone your abilities to critically evaluate the literature, articulate your views, offer constructive experimental suggestions regarding discordant interpretations/models, and assimilate bodies of information into larger conceptual frameworks.