Gastrointestinal, Metabolic and Cardiovascular Disease

6 EC

Semester 1, period 2

5234GACD6Y

Owner Master Biomedical Sciences
Coordinator dr. Anje te Velde
Part of Master Biomedical Sciences, track Experimental Internal Medicine,

Course manual 2021/2022

Course content

The Experimental Internal Medicine track is unique because it is fully taught at an academic hospital, the Academic Medical Center, by experts in the different fields covered during the course. When choosing this track you will be exposed to a broad range of basic and applied clinical research, and have the opportunity to meet leading basic and clinical researchers working on diverse topics that are important for human health. This course also serves as an excellent platform to explore internships and careers in biomedical research.

The main goal of the course is to provide the students with a broad overview of the research that is done in the AMC in the respective themes dealt with in the course.

This four week course is divided in two periods. The first two weeks of the course focus on gastroenterology-related topics, while the second half of the course focuses on cardiovascular- and metabolism related issues and personalized medicine.

The liver and intestine are our largest organs, but it is their complexity and importance for many physiological processes that makes them so fascinating. Liver and intestinal diseases are an enormous burden on society, and importantly, the etiology of many gastrointestinal diseases is still unknown. In the first half of this master-level course, students are taken on a journey through the normal function of the intestine and liver. You will not only learn how our digestive system functions under normal conditions but also what happens when inflammatory or metabolic diseases affect proper functioning of these key organs.

The 3rd week of the course focuses on coronary artery disease, which is a primary cause of mortality and morbidity. This disease is associated with disturbed lipid metabolism as well as involvement of a low-grade inflammatory disease. During this week these processes will be presented, alongside the different cell types involved, and the modern methods that are used to study development of coronary artery disease. We will focus  on understanding how lipid metabolism and inflammation are normally controlled in vascular and immune cells and outline how deregulation of this may lead to development of coronary artery disease. 

The 4th week will be used to discuss several aspects of personalized medicine. Personalized medicine is an emerging practice of medicine that uses an individual's genetic profile to guide decisions made in regard to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disease.

In this course you will receive up to date state scientific insights into these biomedical areas, the clinical expression of diseases therein, and the experimental techniques, and animal models used to unravel the biological underpinnings of normal and diseased states. 

Topics that will be covered in this course are broad and range from genome wide association studies, stem cell biology, metabolism, immunology to clinical treatment and surgery.

Study materials

Literature

  • scientific articles 

Objectives

  • describe and summarize the gastrointestinal and cardiovascular system in health and disease
  • recognize and describe current issues in gastroenterology and cardiology.
  • explain why and how basic and applied research can be used to solve issues in gastroenterology and cardiology
  • describe why and how top researchers are active in Gastroenteroloy and Cardiology.
  • analyze and perform research in these fields.
  • clearly present scientific data and explain background information.
  • understand personalized medicine, how and when to apply

Teaching methods

  • Lecture
  • Seminar
  • Computer lab session/practical training
  • Presentation/symposium
  • Self-study
  • Working independently on e.g. a project or thesis
  • Supervision/feedback meeting

Learning activities

Activity

Number of hours

Practical work

34

Presentation

6

 

 

Seminar

49.25

Self study

78.75

Total 6 EC x 28 h

168

Attendance

Requirements of the programme concerning attendance (OER-B):

  1. Attendance during practical components exercises is mandatory.

Additional requirements for this course:

All course elements are mandatory. Notice of absence is required from the coordinators.

If the students miss one or more lectures a short summary of this lecture(s) should be provided (1/2 A4) to the coordinator provided the ppt is available within a week after the lecture.

Assessment

Item and weight Details

Final grade

0.5 (33%)

Abstract

0.5 (33%)

Movie

0.25 (17%)

Noam week

0.25 (17%)

Phil week pass/fail

From the first two weeks the abstract and movie will be graded for 50%.

The assessments of the third and fourth week will be graded each 25% of the final grade.

Inspection of assessed work

Contact your supervisor to make an appointment for inspection.

For personal feedback the student can contact the individual course coordinators: for the first two weeks Anje te Velde (a.a.tevelde@amc.uva.nl), the third week Noam Zelcer (n.zelcer@amc.uva.nl) and the fourth week tba For overall support the track coordinator is available: Anje te Velde (a.a.tevelde@amc.uva.nl).

Assignments

Practical Dissection Mouse

  • Includes an electronic exam. This will not be assessed.

Mini lab projects, following a PhD student

  • Introduction in lab work with several PhD students.

Abstract

  • Writing an abstract, related to the topic of the mini lab projects.

Presentation lab assignment

  • Presentation of the subject of a PhD student in a movie format.

Presentation proposal

  • In groups, a proposal will be designed and presented of the use of a new therapeutic target.

Fourth week personalized medicine

  • tba

Fraud and plagiarism

The 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' applies to this course. This will be monitored carefully. Upon suspicion of fraud or plagiarism the Examinations Board of the programme will be informed. For the 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' see: www.student.uva.nl

Course structure

Weeknummer Onderwerpen Studiestof
1Gastroenterology and Liver research various topics, practicum anatomy of the mouse  
2Gastroenterology and Liver research 7 afternoons generating a movie explaining the work of a PhD student in the Tytgat Laboratory, writing an abstract and presentation of movie.  
3Cardiovascular research lectures on metabolism, cardiovascular diseases, designing and presenting a proposal  
4Cardiovascular research lectures on persolalized medicine  
5    
6    
7    
8    

Timetable

The schedule for this course is published on DataNose.

Additional information

 Location: Academic Medical Center

 

Contact information

Coordinator

  • dr. Anje te Velde