Microbiology, Virology and Parasitology Program

Program Chair:

Dr. Robert Ricciardi
251 Levy Research Building
4010 Locust Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104

Tel.: 215-898-3905
Fax: 215-898-8385
ricciardi@biochem.dental.upenn.edu

Overview | Requirements | Courses

Infectious diseases resulting from viruses, parasites, prions, and bacteria are a major cause of human morbidity and mortality. Some important infectious diseases, including HIV, malaria, and hepatitis C are becoming more rather than less prevalent. The threat of emerging infectious diseases and bioterrorism also calls for increased research in the area of microbiology, and in fact the NIH is greatly increasing research funding for work on infectious diseases. The recent outbreak of SARS and the continued spread of West Nile virus in North America are but two recent examples of emerging infectious diseases. By studying human pathogens, it is also frequently possible to learn much about normal cell biology, molecular biology, and immunology - infectious agents have long been used as model systems to study important processes.

The University of Pennsylvania has a very collaborative and integrated research program in microbiology involving approximately 60 faculty throughout the campus. The program provides the best graduate training available in the molecular and cellular biology of viral and bacterial pathogenesis and parasitology. The current research interests of the faculty in microbiology and virology encompass a broad range of disciplines including:

• Bacteriology
• Emerging Infectious Diseases
• Immune Response
• Microbial Genomics and Evolution
• Parasitology
• Tumor Virology
• Virology

(Click on a term to see laboratories working in that area)

Faculty throughout the School of Medicine, the School of Veterinary Medicine, the School of Dental Medicine, the School of Arts and Sciences, Children's Hospital, the Fox Chase Cancer Center and the Wistar Institute participate.

The program has an extensive series of seminars designed to not only expose students to the latest and hottest research in microbiology, but to give students an opportunity to present their work to a large and diverse audience. The program feels that it is important for students to gain experience in speaking about their work in public, as this is an important facet of any job in science, and a weekly Tuesday noon seminar with average attendance of approximately 90 faculty, students, postdocs and technicians provides this forum for the virology trainees. Similar seminar series are held for our bacteriology and parasitology students. The Wednesday Microbiology seminar series features prominent scientists from throughout the country and Europe who talk about their latest work in virology, bacteriology, parasitology, and immune responses. As part of this series each semester, there is an Alumni Day when a former MVP program student or postdoc who is now an Assistant Professor at another institution returns to campus to talk about their work and to meet with current students over lunch to talk about their careers. More information on the various seminars can be found on the Events page.

Overview | Requirements | Courses

Required Courses:

• BIOM core courses,
• CAMB 605 (see Curriculum page),and
• IMUN 506: Immune Mechanisms, or
• CAMB 510: Immunology for CAMB, and
• CAMB 590: Biology of Pathogens (half semester course)
  
• two of the three following half-semester courses:
• CAMB 547: Fundamental Virology
• CAMB 548: Bacterial Pathogenesis
• CAAMB 549: Parasitology and Parasitism
• and two seminars, for example:
  • CAMB 546: Medical Virology
  • CAMB 601: Advanced Virology
  • CAMB 608: Regulation of Eukaryotic Gene Expression
  • CAMB 609: Vaccines and Immune Therapeutics
  • CAMB 617: Emerging Infectious Diseases
  • CAMB 618: Introduction to Viral Pathogenesis and Immunity
  • CAMB 621: Seminar in Retroviral Biology
  • CAMB 637: Vectors, Immunology & Disease
  • CAMB 638: Advanced Seminar in Apoptosis
  • IMUN 508: Immune Responses

See Curriculum section of this site for more information on the CAMB graduate group's requirements and related topics.

Overview | Requirements | Courses

CAMB 510: Immunology for CAMB students
Syllabus-2008
The purpose of this course is to give a thorough grounding in Immunology to Cell and Molecular Biology graduate students with an emphasis on the role of the immune system in combating infectious and neoplastic disease and its role in immunopathological states such as transplantation rejection, autoimmunity and allergy. This will be a required course for CAMB students in the Microbiology, Virology and Parasitology program and the Vaccine and Gene Therapy program, replacing Immune Mechanisms 506. It may also be used as an elective by other CAMB students such as Cancer and Cell Growth and Cell Biology and Physiology. The course is divided, by topic, into three parts. The first deals with innate and adaptive immune mechanisms, the structure, function, and molecular biology of antigen receptors and major histocompatibility complex molecules; the development and differentiation of lymphocytes and other hematopoietic cells involved in immunity and mechanisms of lymphocyte circulation and memory. The second part will cover the immune response in infection by bacteria, viruses and parasites and how this impacts on vaccine design. The course concludes by focusing on the immune system’s role in pathological states such as cancer, allergy, graft rejection and auto-immunity. The formal part of the course is comprised of two two-hour lectures per week. In addition each week there will be an informal 1.5-hour meeting, on Fridays, which will be used to introduce the students to specialized techniques used to measure immune responses or to discuss topical issues relating to the application of immunological knowledge in fighting disease with emphasis on the primary literature in the field. There will be two exams, the first will be taken after part I and the second after part II and III of the course. These exams will be distributed to the students two days before they are taken as closed-book essay exams, so they can plan which questions they will answer and how they will answer them. .[up]

CAMB 590: Biology of Pathogens (half semester course)
A new course entitled "Topics in Microbiology, Virology & Parasitology: The Biology of Pathogens" is to be offered to first year MVP students three times per week for one hour over an eight week block in the fall semester. An exciting and unusual aspect of the course will be its integration of available information on viral, bacterial, and parasitic pathogens. [up]

CAMB 546: Medical Virology
This course will introduce students to diverse basic principles that
contribute to viral pathogenesis. We will use HIV as a model to illustrate specific elements that relate to disease development, emphasizing a) pathogenesis, b) immunology, c) retroviral replication cycle, d) vaccine development. Offered spring semester. [up]

CAMB 547: Fundamental Virology
2008 Syllabus
The course provides a detailed introduction to animal virology aimed at graduate students in the biomedical sciences. Offered spring semester. [up]

CAMB 548: Bacteriology
2008 Schedule
The format of this course will be two lectures and one student presentation/paper discussion per section. The course will begin by introducing approaches to the analysis of host-pathogen interaction. It will cover the general concepts and recent advance of how bacterial pathogens prepare to infect the host, the successful strategies bacteria used to infect the host, and how they survive after the infection. [up]

CAMB 549: Parasitology and Parasitism
2008 Syllabus
Parasites infect over one quarter of the world’s population and parasitic diseases are a leading cause of death globally. A new course, entitled "Parasites and Parasitism", is to be offered to first and second year MVP students over a seven-week block in the spring semester. The course will begin with an introduction to the major protozoan and helminth pathogens of humans, their geographic distribution and the diseases they cause. Subsequent lectures will emphasize a variety of topics from the current research literature using specific parasitic pathogens as examples. These will include how various protozoans enter cells and adapt to different intracellular habitats or how helminths utilize different strategies to survive within the GI tract. Malaria and schistosomiasis will serve as examples for how parasites cause disease while trypanosomes and leishmaniasis will be discussed as models for how parasites survive or evade immune elimination. Finally, several helminth and protozoan systems will be used to demonstrate the intimate association between parasite and vector that leads to efficient transmission. In addition to lectures, weekly discussion sessions will provide an opportunity for students to review papers or research specific topics and present their findings to their colleagues.[up]

CAMB 601: Advanced Virology Seminar
This seminar course covers current topics and important concepts in virology. Students will select and read papers from the literature on specific topics in virology, and then present a seminar. Grades will be based on the quality of the seminar and participation in class discussions.[up]

CAMB 609: Vaccines and Immune Therapeutics
The goal of this course is to expand on students’ general understanding of the immune system and to focus this understanding towards the application of vaccination. Furthermore the course will give the student a sense of how these principles are applied to vaccine and immune therapeutic development. The course covers basic science as well as the clinical, ethical & political implications of modern vaccines.
Initial lectures review immune mechanisms believed to be responsible for vaccine induced protection from disease. Subsequent lectures build on this background to explore the science of vaccines for diverse pathogens, including agents of bioterrorism as well as vaccines for cancer. An appreciation for the application of laboratory science to the clinical development of vaccines is provided in the next section of the course along with lectures that focus on the ethical implications of vaccines in different situations. The financial implications of specific vaccines and their impact on the global community, is a specific focus of the course.
The course is lecture style and has a required reading to provide the students background for the specific topic. Students are graded on course participation, a project and a final written exam. The project is to propose in a written report a vaccine strategy for a current pathogen of importance that does not as yet have an effective vaccine. Strategies used should build on the material presented in the class lectures. The course is intended for graduate students or medical students in various MS, Ph.D. or MD/Ph.D. programs on the campus as well as local scientists and professionals in the community. As a prerequisite students should have taken biology, biochemistry or immunology courses at the advanced college level . [up]

CAMB 617: Emerging Infectious Diseases
Emerging Infectious Diseases will cover emerging viral, bacterial and parasitic organisms, with lectures being given by faculty from the Schools of Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Dental Medicine, and Arts and Sciences. Epidemiology, immune responses to infection, vaccine and antimicrobial agents, and pathogenesis will all be discussed. The course format will include lectures by various faculty on Mondays and Wednesdays, with a discussion session held each Friday. Classes will be from 10 to 11 AM in Johnson 209. Each week will have a theme, and the lecturers for that week will organize the Friday discussion session. Evaluations will be based on a writing assignment and participation in the Friday small group sessions. Given fall semester. [up]

CAMB 618: Introduction to Viral Pathogenesis
2008 Syllabus
This course reviews the fundamentals of viral pathogenesis, and covers the following general areas: virus cell interactions, viral tropism and cellular receptors, sequential steps in viral infection; immune responses to viral infections, virus-induced immunopathology, virus-induced immunosuppression; viral virulence, viral persistence, oncogenic viruses, host susceptibility to viral diseases, HIV and AIDS; viral vaccines. Prerequisites: introductory courses in virology (or microbiology) and immunology are recommended. Class will be held once a week for a two-hour session, in seminar format, with each session having an overview given by the faculty and two student presentations. Offered spring semester. [up]

CAMB 621: Seminar in Retroviral Biology
The course covers the most recent and interesting papers involving the study of retroviruses, or their use as vectors for gene therapy. There is a heavy emphasis on HIV/AIDS. [up]

IMUN 506: Immune Mechanisms
Permission of instructor required. This is an introductory graduate course, which surveys most areas of immunology. It is assumed that students have a background in biochemistry and molecular biology, and at least some familiarity with immunological concepts. Offered fall semester. [up]

CAMB 608: Regulation of Eukaryotic Gene Expression
An advanced seminar course emphasizing the molecular biology and molecular genetics of transcription in eukaryotes. Based on current literature, the presentations and discussions will familiarize the student with present day technology and developing principles. Offered fall semester. [up]

CAMB 638: Advanced Seminar in Apoptosis
The objective of this seminar course is to familiarize students with the fast-paced fields of apoptosis (programmed cell death). Following a discussion format, the course deals with four aspects of apoptosis: 1) key components of the apoptotic machinery (caspases, death adapter CED-4/Apaf-1, Bcl-2 family proteins, inhibitors of apoptosis (IAPs), etc.); 2) death receptors and their signaling pathways, 3) mitochondria and apoptosis, and 4) apoptosis in diseases. Students are expected to read and to participate in the discussion of all assigned papers, and students are responsible for presenting the papers and leading discussions on a rotating basis. Course enrollment is limited to 12 students. Offered spring semester. [up]

CAMB 637. Gene Therapy: Vectors, Immunology and Disease
2008 Syllabus
Prerequisite(s): Background in molecular biology, virology and immunology. This seminar course is designed to provide students with a cohesive understanding of important immunological aspects of gene therapy. Gene therapy approached based on parvovirus-derived vectors will be used as an example to address the following four major themes: immune responses to the vector, immune responses to the transgene product in treatment of genetic disease, strategies for prevention of undesired immune responses in gene therapy, and use of vectors to induce antigen-specific immune responses. Students are expected to have solid background in immunology and virology. Each class consists of a brief introduction by an instructor, reviewing background information related to the theme discussion. The topics are explored through discussions, led by faculty, of research articles. Copies of the articles are distributed at class in advance, and students are expected to have thoroughly reviewed the assigned articles and to be able to present and discuss various aspects of the papers. Completion of CAMB 610 (The Molecular Basis of Gene Therapy) is not required for enrollment in this course. Offered in alternate years. Offered spring semester 2004. [up]

IMUN 508: Immune Responses
This course is designed to apply the fundamental principles of the mechanisms of immune recognition and development learned in IM 506 to the immune response in health and disease in vivo. Topics that will be covered are: infection and immunity; innate immunity and inflammatory responses; transplantation, auto-immunity and tolerance; tumor immunology; hypersensitivity and allergy; and, inherited diseases of the immune system. Offered spring semester . [up]

[top of page]