Prospectus

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Therapeutic Modulation of Atherosclerosis

Course
2019-2020

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

After this course, students:

  • can work in a research team.

  • can articulate their own research question and hypothesis, based on a previous observation made by their supervisor in combination with scientific literature.

  • are able to design an experimental setup that enables them to test their own hypothesis.

  • are able to perform scientific experiments under the supervision of a PhD student.

  • are able to gather, analyze and interpret scientific data.

  • are able to present their data in both a scientific report and a scientific poster or oral presentation.

  • are able to ask questions to their peers during scientific (poster) presentations.

Reading list

Literature will be provided during the course.

Coordinator

Mw. Dr. I. Bot, 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). Attendance to all parts of the course, including the introductory lecture on September 5th, is mandatory for all participating students.

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 be ≥ 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 BFW students who do the Elective Module ‘Disease Signaling and Drug Targets’ (DSDT). The same admission criteria apply to this course as for the entire Elective Module DSDT. All students that are admitted to the Elective Module DSDT will be registered for this course in uSis by the Minor coordinator.