Pharmaceutical Biotechnology

General Aims The objective of the course of Molecular and Cellular Pathology is to provide a firm foundation for understanding the molecular and cellular basis of disease. Goals: understanding the molecular complexity in human disease basis, understanding how most common diseases are linked to the dysfunction of specific pathways and how the application of molecular and cellular approach might help to advance medical research and the translation and application of knowledge to human disease. Specific Aims 1. Knowledge and Understanding The goal of the courses is to provide students a rigorous intellectual foundation of the cellular and molecular pathogenesis of human disease. Appreciate how most human diseases are linked with molecular or cellular dysfunction. Students should be able to articulate basic disease mechanisms that can underlie an identified pathology. 2. Applying Knowledge and Understanding At the end of the course students will have a solid understanding of the basic mechanisms at the cellular and molecular level that are correlated with the pathologic mechanisms that underlie human disease. This background is particularly important for Pharmaceutical Biotechnolgy students by equipping students with an advanced knowledge of molecular pathology and an understanding of the relevant principles and rationale for practical applications of therapeutic approach. 3. Making judgments Didactic and highly interactive lectures are provided to obtain an understanding of how in most common diseases insufficient knowledge about the pathogenesis of human diseases may limit the effectiveness of the present therapeutic approaches. Students will know how molecular and cellular pathology is presently applied to gain insight into how disease conditions are investigated at a molecular level, as well as understanding how this may positively affect the therapeutic approach to human diseases. 4. Communication skills Students' achievement of learning outcomes is demonstrated by the ability to analyze and critically discuss molecular and cellular mechanisms that contribute to human disease. Students’ evaluation is based by oral exam and the final score represents the sum of the two modules of the course. The overall knowledge of students is verified and students obtain their evaluation from grade 18 to grade 30. An exam is considered passed if the final grade is equal to or higher than 18/30. In the event of a full grade (30/30), the Examination Board may grant honours (lode). 5. Learning skills The Program in Molecular and cellular pathology focuses on the molecular mechanisms that cause diseases, the newest technologies in genomics, and proteomics as well as the development of prognostic, diagnostic and therapeutic tools. This is a crucial aspect to help students understand their learning interests as Pharmacological Biotechnology students, enhancing their dispositions to be active and autonomous learners.