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Stem Cell Courses

2011 Spring Semester Courses

Topics in Anatomy 675 Class #40729: Molecular and Cellular Organogenesis

Instructor: John Fallon, PhD and Youngsook Lee, Phd

Time: 3:30-5 PM on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Location: Room 341 Bardeen, 1300 University Avenue (Medical School)

Prerequisites: 1 year of general biology or 2 semesters of zoology, 1 semester of organic chemistry, or instructor's consent.

This class is a 3 credit course and meets at 3:30-5 PM on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The course is intended for graduate and advanced undergraduate students interested in developmental biology, stem cell biology, and molecular basis of normal organ formation. The Developmental Biology course (Zoology 470) by Jeff Hardin or Mammalian Embryology (Anatomy 675) by Karen Downs is recommended, but not required.

This course will cover the most current knowledge of the basic principles of organogenesis including the molecular and cellular pathways leading to normal organ development. Tissue/organ specification, differentiation, and developmental processes, focusing on molecular signals and associated signal transduction pathways and transcriptional regulation will be covered in depth. Depending on the organ, current understanding of the role of stem cells and the molecular basis for congenital disease will be included.

The instructor for each unit will be a scientist recognized for advancing understanding of the development of the organ being studied. There will be two lectures and two journal article discussions per unit.

Course Flyer and Syllabus

MHB 610: Regenerative Medicine, Ethics & Society

1 credit short course

Instructor: Linda Hogle, PhD

Meets Fridays, 8-10 a.m. in SMI 116

This course is designed to introduce graduate science, engineering, and medical students working in regenerative medicine research to the key ethical, policy and social issues relevant to the field. Primary scientific and policy documents will be used as resources as well as analyses of current social and political environments. Topics include (among others):

  • The background of legal disputes over embryonic stem cell research
  • Understanding the relations among governments, the public & the media in the face of controversial research.
  • Guidelines and oversight rules for research ethics
  • Guidelines and oversight rules: what stem cell researchers need to know
  • Clinical trials & First-in-human research
  • Translational issues: data sharing & intellectual property
  • NOTE: THIS COURSE IS TAUGHT AS A CONCENTRATED, SHORT COURSE (7 sessions). Counts for ethics credit for a number of graduate science programs (ck with your advisor)

    Course Flyer

    Medical Physics Special Topic Class 471: Multi-modality Molecular Imaging in Living Subjects (Molecular Imaging)

    Instructor: Weibo Cai, PhD

    Lecture Schedule: 1:20 - 2:10 PM; M/W - WIMR 1022

    Credits: 2

    Enrollment Cap: 30 students (Graduate Student and Senior Undergraduate); No prerequisites.

    Textbook: Molecular Imaging (Ralph Weissleder, Brian D. Ross, Alnawaz Rehemtulla, Sanjiv Sam Gambhir), 1st edition (June 30, 2010); ISBN-10: 1607950057, ISBN-13: 978-1607950059

    Course Syllabus

    Neuroscience 670: Stem Cells and the Central Nervous System

    Instructor: Ronald Kalil, PhD

    Time: Thursdays 1:20-3:20 pm

    Location: 5215 Medical Sciences Center

    Credits: 2-3 (Three-credit students must complete a term paper.)

    Prerequisites: Graduate level course; open to advanced undergraduates with consent of instructor. Class Enrollment Number: 40430

    The course will analyze research that involves stem cells and the nervous system in areas that have received widespread attention. In each area of stem cell research that will be considered, we will aim to distinguish what is known from what is not known, and determine what remains to be done to bridge this gap.

    Among the topics that will be included in the course are: basic stem cell biology, embryonic stem cells, adult stem cells, and the transplantation of embryonic and adult stem cells to the developing and adult CNS for experimental and therapeutic purposes. Reading material will consist mainly of primary papers that will be presented each week by students in the course and discussed critically by the class. Prerequisites include basic course work in biology and chemistry. Familiarity with the development biology, development neurobiology and the structure and function of the CNS will be helpful.

    More course information is available at http://keck.bioimaging.wisc.edu/Neuro670/

    Course Flyer

    Pathology 750: Cellular and Molecular Biology/Pathology

    Course Director: Donna Peters, PhD

    Time:9:55-10:50AM on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays

    Location:1420 Microbial Sciences Building (MSB)

    Credits: 3

    Pathology 750 is a graduate-level course that covers general topics in cellular and molecular biology, ranging from nuclear targeting and cellular signaling mechanisms, to angiogenesis and cell invasion. Disease mechanisms are emphasized when possible. The course is usually oversubscribed by graduate students, and is thus not open to undergraduates.

    The course consists each week of two lectures (M, W) and one discussion (F). The lectures will be at an advanced level and the discussions will have an emphasis on experimental approaches.

    Course Syllabus

    2010 Fall Semester Courses

    PATHOLOGY 803: PATHOGENESIS OF MAJOR HUMAN DISEASES

    Course Directors: Zsuzsanna Fabry, Ph.D., Michael Hart, M.D., and Matyas Sandor, Ph.D.

    Lecture Schedule: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 9:55 AM

    Location: Course will meet Primarily in CSC G5/142 with a few exceptions. See syllabus for xceptions.

    Credits: 3

    This course will focus on diseases that are major causes of global death and disability. Throughout the course, we will combine expert clinicians, basic scientists, and literature review on specific topics. For each major disease there will be three seminars. The first seminar will introduce the pathogenesis and current clinical treatments of major human diseases. The next seminar will focus on experimental models to study the disease pathogenesis. The last session will consist of small groups reviewing current research papers addressing disease pathogenesis and discussing the leading disease model. The course is designed for graduate students, MD or MD/PHD students and advanced undergraduates interested in pursuing a career in bench-to-bedside translational, basic and clinical research. The course will provide an opportunity to learn about research currently being conducted on specific human diseases. The major human diseases covered will include Cancer, Tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, Malaria, Stroke, Alzheimer’s Disease, Diabetes, Multiple Sclerosis, Asthma.

    For any questions contact Zsuzsanna Fabry at 265-8716 or zfabry@wisc.edu

    Course Flyer

    Course Syllabus

    Anatomy 675 - Special Topics in Mammalian Embryology

    Instructor: Karen Downs

    In its third year, this course will provide graduate and advanced undergraduate students with a thorough grounding in mammalian embryology. Emphasis is on the anatomy of the mouse conceptus, the experimental approaches used to investigate cell fate, cell potency, determination, and differentiation, how these approaches have formed the basis for isolating a variety of stem cell types, and the role of spatial coordinates in embryonic and extraembryonic design and juxtaposition.

    There are no required books. Materials are lectures, a Study Guide, reviews, and readings from original papers, the latter of which will be discussed in class each week.

    The Instructor will provide copies of each week’s reading materials, and a general guide to the papers, with questions to keep in mind for discussion. There are no exams, but two presentations. The first, before Spring Break, will be on pre-implantation mammalian development, and the second, during Finals week, will be on post-implantation development.

    2012 Spring Semester Courses

    Please contact course Instructor for more information about the course including when it might be taught again.

    Biological Interactions with Materials (Biomaterials)
    Pharmaceutical Sciences 718-430 or BME 207-430

    Instructor: W. John Kao, Ph.D.

    Class Time/Location: TTh 9:30-10:45a, 1106 Mechanical Engineering Hall

    Lab Time/Location: Selected TTh 9:30-10:45a, 2005 ECB.

    Credits: 3

    Course Description: Biomaterials are synthetic or biological materials used for the permanent augmentation or replacement of tissues, as well as for applications that require a relative short duration. A wide range of different materials is employed in the construction of biomedical devices such as artificial blood vessels, mechanical heart valves, breast implants, orthopedic joints, dental fillings, and devices such as intravenous catheters and drug delivery vehicles. This course addresses the basic biological systems governing the utilization of biomaterials and the range of materials currently being employed for biomedical applications. Various analytical techniques pertinent to biomaterial research and evaluation will also be discussed. Selected major medical fields in which biomaterials play a critical role will be discussed throughout the course.

    Course Syllabus for Spring 2011

    BME/CBE 520 - Stem Cell Bioengineering

    Professor: Bill Murphy

    This course is offered in the spring semester

    he interface between bioengineering and stem cell biology is among the most intriguing and active areas of inquiry in modern biotechnology. The aim of this course is to illuminate and explore this interdisciplinary research area, with an emphasis on fundamental stem cell biology, modeling of stem cell signaling, control over the stem cell microenvironment, and stem cell-based tissue development and regeneration. The course will begin by introducing important fundamental aspects of stem cell biology, followed by modules (shown below) covering bioengineering focus areas as they relates to stem cell understanding and manipulation. Each class period will include a lecture on a fundamental topic followed by a brief discussion about work that is of particular significance in the current stem cell bioengineering literature. The course is geared toward senior undergraduate students or junior graduate students with interests in stem cell biology and bioengineering, and students will be expected to take an active role in both lectures and discussion portions of the course.

    Animal Health and Biomedical Sciences 875 - Gamete and Embryo Biology

    This should be offered in Fall 2012 but it will depend on instructor availabity.

    2 credits

    Course Syllabus

    BME 601 - Special Topics, Extracellular Matrix: Controlling Structure and Function

    Instructor: Brenda Ogle (Office, 2144 ECB)