Description
Cardiovascular diseases are the major cause of morbidity and mortality in the Western society. Atherosclerosis, a progressive inflammatory disease that is hallmarked by an accumulation of lipids and fibrous tissue in the large arteries, is the main pathology underlying pathology of cardiovascular disease and represents the primary research focus of the LACDR division of Biopharmaceutics. During the practical course on Therapeutic Modulation of Atherosclerosis (TMA), students will gain hands-on research experience considering (genetic) dysregulations of inflammatory and/or metabolic processes underlying atherosclerosis.
Course Objectives
Students learn to work in a research team.
Students learn to articulate their own research question and hypothesis, based on a previous observation made by their supervisor in combination with scientific literature.
Students learn to design an experimental setup that enables them to test their own hypothesis.
Students learn to perform scientific experiments under the supervision of a PhD student.
Students learn to gather, analyze and interpret scientific data.
Students learn to present their data in both a scientific report and a scientific poster or oral presentation.
Students practice with asking questions during scientific (poster) presentations.
Students learn to receive feedback that they can apply to future scientific reports.
Reading list
Literature will be provided during the course.
Coordinator
Mw. Dr. J.J. Geerling, Dhr. Prof. dr. Johan Kuiper
Mode of instruction
Practical course, consisting of: literature research, practical work, report writing and a concluding symposium (poster or oral presentation).
Assessment method
Students will be assessed on the following modalities:
Report (60%)
Practical skills (20%)
Academic attitude and motivation (20%)
Total grade = 100%
N.B. In order to pass this practical course, the overall grade should ≥ 6.0, with the report graded a ≥5.5. If the report is graded below 5.5, the student gets one chance to re-write his/her report based on the feedback provided by the supervisor.
Admission requirements & Registration
This course is mandatory for and restricted to students who do the Minor ‘Disease Signaling and Drug Targets’ (DSDT). The same admission criteria apply to this course as for the entire Minor DSDT.