Infection I

Infection I is separated in a virology, microbiology, and parasitology part. The course introduces basic concepts of infectious diseases and covers major human illnesses of the categories, including some molecular mechanisms, immunology, symptoms, and treatment. It includes microscopy of sample slides and student presentations on the discussed topics.

Immunology I

The aim of this course is to understand the necessary and sufficient conditions to mount an immune response. It starts with the evolution of the immune system from bacteria to higher vertebrates and then focuses on cellular and humoral components of the innate immunity. Basic principles of immune responses such as anti-microbial peptides, effector functions of immune cells, as well as molecular patterns and their receptors signalling are described.

Clinical Immunology and Immunopharmacology I

This course introduces in detail immunological characteristics of specific organs and their diseases. The course also includes a self-learning part of anatomy, depending on each student’s previous knowledge. It consists of several parts:

  • Immune diagnostics gives an introduction into diagnostic techniques and parameters used in the clinic and research.
  • Immunopharmacology covers basic pharmacological concepts of importance in immunological research and clinic.
  • Systemic immunopathophysiology and Immunophysiology and Immunopathology of specific organs deal with anatomy and physiology of different organs and systems, focusing on the Immune cells that play major roles in each one of them. They also focus on the causes, symptoms, and treatment of organ/system-specific inflammatory and immune-mediated diseases.
Methods in life sciences and statistics

The course gives theoretical background of common techniques and methodological approaches from the area of life sciences. It also focuses on different types of statistics test and data presentation. The aim is to improve the student’s skills in statistical calculations and adequate planning of experiments.

Electives

Immuno-oncology

The goal of this course is to understand the various determinants of anti-tumor immune responses and how this knowledge could be used to improve cancer immunotherapy. The course will start with a general introduction and overview of the basic concepts and treatment strategies currently used in the clinic. This elective seminar course is based on student presentations of papers from the field of immuno-oncology and their discussion in the group. It conveys a thorough understanding of basic concepts in tumor immunology and immunotherapy of cancer, as well as experimental methodologies to asses it.

Immuno-metabolism

Immunometabolism is an emerging field incorporating cellular metabolism and immune function. A general introduction and overview of the topic is provided, but this elective seminar-course is based on student presentations of papers from the field of immunometabolism and their discussion in the group. It conveys a thorough understanding of basic concepts and techniques used to study immuno-metabolism. The aim of this course is to understand the impact of cell metabolism on immune responses and how this knowledge could be used to manipulate immune responses and treat diseases.

Challenges in Medical Immunosciences

In this elective, tutors will give an overview about the current situation in their field of immunological research, state of the art techniques and new developments. Some topics have been Inflammasome, nucleic acids sensing, nanobodies, allergy and immuno-oncology.