Admission requirements
Students should be familiar with the contents of the course “Immunology” before starting in this course.
Description
This course focuses on infectious agents and (un)successful interactions with host immune responses and anti-infectives at the cellular and molecular level. The program consists of
A. lectures and workgroups on 1) the characteristics of the various classes of pathogens (viruses, bacteria and parasites), 2) immune evasion strategies and successful immune responses to infectious agents.
B. an R assignment on viral spreading in a population and the effect of R0 and vaccination on disease spread.
C. a practical research project on issues related to infection and immunity.
Sections A-C start with an introductory lecture and comprise several self-study assignments. The assignments will be discussed and elaborated upon in workgroup meetings.
Furthermore, State-of-the-Art lectures on specific topics in the field of infectious agents and immunity will be offered to the students to broaden and deepen their knowledge of infectious agents and their interactions with immune systems and anti-infectives. The contents of these lectures will also be the basis of the exam. Moreover, students (in groups) will be challenged to design and carry out experiments (in the field of infection and immunity) in the laboratories of the participating tutors. The results of these lab-projects will be presented at a symposium.
Course objectives
The student will be able to:
exploit the expanding knowledge (of the structure, functional activities, life cycles, transmission/epidemiology and genetics) of pathogens in order to understand the pathogenesis of infections.
explain the mechanistic/immunologic basis of strategies employed by pathogens to evade 1) the host defense systems and 2) anti-infective strategies with major societal impact (antibiotics, vaccines).
critical read and present (understand and explain) selected scientific papers in the field of infectious agents and immunity
to design, perform, discuss and present experiments in the field of infectious agents and immunity.
Timetable
All course and group schedules are published on MyTimeTable.
The exam dates have been determined by the Education Board and are published in MyTimeTable.
It will be announced in MyTimeTable and/or Brightspace when and how the post-exam feedback will be organized.
Mode of instruction
Lectures, self-study assignments, workgroup meetings, State-of-the-Art lectures, lab project (practical), scientific literature, Elective symposium and Lab project symposium.
Assessment method
The final mark (maximum score: 10) for this course will be calculated as follows:
Exam: weight 85%; minimal score ≥5.5 (on the scale from 1-10)
Participation mini-project: weight 15%; minimal score ≥ 5.5 (on the scale from 1-10)
Participation and handing in results from R assignment: pass/fail
Participation workgroup: pass/fail; absence with a valid reason which was communicated to the coordinator (Geluk) and tutor
Reading list
You can find the complete reading list for Biomedical Sciences here.
Registration
Registration must be done via MyStudyMap. Registration in MyStudyMap gives you automatic access to the course in Brightspace. For more information, please visit the Leiden University website for students.
Contact
Prof. Dr. A. Geluk (Dept. Infectious Diseases) - a.geluk@lumc.nl
Dr. S.A. Joosten (Dept. Infectious Diseases) - s.a.joosten@lumc.nl
Remarks
All course information can be consulted on the dedicated Brightspace site.
Information for exchange students
This module is part of an English taught third semester of the bachelor’s programme in Biomedical Sciences at Leiden University Medical Center. Combining biomedical modules with modules from other programmes in Leiden is difficult or impossible due to different scheduling schemes. Exchange students with sufficient relevant background knowledge in biology/biomedicine are therefore encouraged and advised to choose the entire module package indicated (by an * ) below.
Immunology (BW), 9 EC* Infectious Agents And Immunity, 6 EC* Introduction to the Neurosciences 6, EC* Design and analysis of Biomedical Studies, 6 EC*
Line education Communication in Science for Exchange students, 2 EC*
Additional options: Biomedical Academic Scientific Training for Exchange Students, 2 EC And/or Applied Electrophysiology for Exchange students, 2 EC
A minimum number of applicants is required for continuation of the optional components.