Courses

All courses carry 3 credits unless otherwise specified.

521 Physiology of Reproduction
Comparative aspects of anatomy, embryology, endocrinology, and physiology of reproduction and lactation. Gradil, Visconti. Credit, 4

581H Cancer Biology
Changes in the prevalence of cancer and contemporary diagnostics and treatments will be covered. The focus will be on the mechanisms that are corrupted in cancer cells and the differences in vulnerability among tissues, the technologies used to define pathways and lessons learned. Equally important are the strategies being used to exploit the vulnerabilities of tumors for personalized and targeted therapeutics. Jerry, Pobezinsky

596 Independent Study
Generally this level is used by upper-level undergraduates but can be used by beginning graduate students. All faculty. Credit, 1-6

620 The 10-Minute Talk
This course engages students in preparing and practicing their own short scientific talk based on their own work. The emphasis is on the strategies for delivery of clear, impactful language and the use of visual aids to enhance the audience experience. Critique and assessment of each other as well as departmental seminar speakers in order to discuss the wide array of successful speaking styles and devices. The goal is for each student to develop their own style and delivery of an engaging scientific presentation. Mager. Credit, 1

630 Scientific Paper Writing
Students learn a very structured, method/approach to writing scientific papers beginning with use of their own data (in figure or table format) and through step-by-step construction of scientific information that will result in a manuscript, thesis, dissertation or planning document. Alfandari, Minter. Credit, 1

640 Cancer Biology
Changes in the prevalence of cancer and contemporary diagnostics and treatments. While these have dramatically decreased mortality, cancer continues to claim more than 585,000 lives annually. The focus will be on the mechanisms that are corrupted in cancer cells and the differences in vulnerability among tissues, the technologies used to define pathways and lessons learned and strategies being used to exploit the vulnerabilities of tumors for personalized and targeted therapeutics. Jerry, Pobezinsky.

658 Frontiers in Biotechnology
The goal of this course is to educate students about the scientific advances and resulting tools that have allowed the biotech revolution, to chronicle the implementation of recent advances in biotechnology, and to identify those areas of great unmet need in which biotechnology can play a major role in the future. Frontiers in Biotechnology comprises eight individual units focusing on what we view to be eight of the most cutting edge advances in biotechnology. We have designed the course around the concepts that "Biotechnology" is a vast enterprise with a huge number of applications and that the ultimate goal of any biotechnology is application to a pressing human need. Thus, in each unit we engage industrial experts to provide real-world, real-time snapshots of biotechnology applications. Pobezinsky

670 Advanced Immunology
Detailed coverage of the four major areas in immunology (Hematopoiesis and cells and organs of the immune system, Innate Immunity, B cells and T cells). The emphasis will be placed on the experimental basis of our understanding of immune function and will necessitate reading of selected key papers from literature in addition to the material presented in a lecture format. Offered in alternating years. Osborne, Minter, Pobezinskaya, Pobezinsky

687 Cells, Genes and Development
Understanding how a fetus develops from a single fertilized cell is a question that has perplexed biologists for over 100 years. While the field originally used only a few organisms and experimental techniques to tease out these questions, the last 15 years has seen fundamental shifts in the science of developmental biology. Advances in genetics, molecular biology, imaging, and powerful new model organisms have brought the field closer to its goal. In this course, experts in the field of mouse and frog development will lecture on basic topics in developmental biology including fertilization, axis specification, germ layer induction, organogenesis, cancer, postembryonic development, and epigenetics. Within each topic there will be a focus on both classic and modern-day literature that will constitute the required reading for the course. It is anticipated that students will not only master the topics covered but also gain the ability to evaluate the literature and design experiments in the field.Alfandari, Cousin, Cui, Fissore, Jerry, Mager, Salicioni, Tremblay

696 Independent Study
Specific problem in some aspect of animal or biological sciences including research by non-thesis master’s students. May be taken for satisfactory/unsatisfactory or graded credit. Students register with the interested faculty member. Can be used for master’s students to review literature on the topic chosen for their laboratory research but this requires an oral presentation in a lab meeting setting. All faculty. Credit, 1-6

699 Master’s Thesis
Credit, 1-10

792 Seminar in Animal Biotechnology and Biomedical Sciences
Presentation of research projects and literature review by faculty and graduate students within the department as well as by guest speakers from around the world. Credit, 1

794A Journal Club in Immunology
Presentation and critique by students of recent scientific papers in the field of immunology. Osborne,, Minter, , Pobezinskaya, Pobezinsky, Telfer. Credit, 1

795A Journal Club in Cells, Genes and Development
Presentation and critique of current primary research literature on animal biotechnology including developmental and reproductive biology, transgenesis and gene expression, oogenesis and signal transduction, mammary gland biology, and tumorigenesis. Alfandari, Cousin, Cui, Fissore, Jerry, Mager, Salicioni, Tremblay, Visconti. Credit, 1

796 Independent Study
May be taken for satisfactory/unsatisfactory or graded credit, generally as the second graduate-level independent study taken. Involves an oral presentation at a laboratory meeting or to departmental faculty. All faculty. Credit, 1-6

899 Doctoral Dissertation
Credit, 18