Admission requirements
Students of Bio-Pharmaceutical Sciences, Pharmacy, and other Life Sciences.
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 cardiovascular disease and represents the primary research focus of the LACDR division of BioTherapeutics. This course will give more insights into the mechanisms and ontogenesis of atherosclerosis. Special emphasis will be devoted to the contribution of inflammatory processes and lipid fluxes in the development of atherosclerotic lesions and how important risk factors, such as aging and stress, affect these processes. Also, the clinical end-points of atherosclerosis and therapeutic strategies to treat atherosclerosis will be discussed.
This course aims to:
Raise students’ interest and enthusiasm for the field of cardiovascular research.
Provide an overview of the most important processes, including immunological and metabolic factors, underlying atherosclerosis.
Discuss the use of state-of-the-art single cell technology and biologicals to advance our understanding of the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis, with diagnostic and therapeutic potential.
Introduce the latest developments and insights in the field of cardiovascular research.
Allow students to interpret and design experiments to study atherosclerosis.
Note that these are expert lectures series and that hence the content might change every year.
Course objectives
At the end of this course the student is able to:
Describe and explain the inflammatory processes underlying atherosclerosis pathology.
Describe and explain the metabolic dysregulations in lipid fluxes underlying atherosclerosis pathology.
Describe and explain the clinical end-points of atherosclerosis.
Describe various therapeutic strategies used to treat atherosclerosis, and are able to explain the mechanism of action of these therapies.
Design experimental setups to study a specific aspect of atherosclerosis pathology or treatment.
Read scientific literature, and can critically reflect on the rational and experimental approach of the study as well as on the results presented and conclusions drawn by the authors.
Present a scientific research paper to peers.
Timetable
This course is scheduled for semester 1, period 1-2 (November 2021).
A detailed course schedule will be published on Brightspace.
Mode of instruction
Lectures, tutorials and self-tuition.
Assessment method
The course will be concluded with a written exam (open questions).
For each individual exam, the grade is expressed either with pass or fail, or by using a decimal integer between 1.0 and 10.0 that should be ≥ 5.5. The final grade is expressed using an integer between 1 and 10 and can be rounded off/up to a half integer, with the exception of the grade 5.5. Final grades between 5.50 and 5.99 will be rounded up to 6.0. The final grade should be 6.0 to successfully complete this course.
Reading list
Will be announced during the course.
Registration
Application via uSis for both the course and exam is mandatory. Registration for the course closes 14 days before the start of the course or earlier when the maximum number of students is reached. Registration for the exam closes 7 days before the exam date or earlier when the maximum number of students is reached.
Contact
Coordinator: Dr. Amanda Foks (e-mail: a.c.foks@lacdr.leidenuniv.nl, tel. 071-527 6213).
Remarks
A minimum of 5 students and a maximum of 50 master students applies to this course. Placement is based on the registration date.
This information is without prejudice. Alterations can be made for next year.