CSU2015014 Personalised Medicine – the future treatment paradigm

Volume 2014/2015
Content

See course description at Copenhagen Summer University

Personalised medicine is a rapidly developing and growing field. Advances in genomic and clinical science have created innovative opportunities to tailor health care to each patient. Personalised medicine is a strategy based on individual phenotyping of profiles rather than the long established 'one-size-fits-all' approach. It is based on a multidisciplinary approach translating advances in basic science and drug discovery and development into clinical practice.

It has wide implications for public health, preventive interventions and for the rational design of screening programmes. The collaboration between disciplines is reflected in the curriculum of the present course, which is of relevance for persons engaged in research, clinical medicine, the pharmaceutical industry as well as those involved in health care administration and politics.

Personalised medicine identifies elements that predict the individuals' predisposition to disease and their response to treatment. The relatively new tools and methods of personalised medicine integrate genomic information with clinical and custom laboratory data, which enables classification of unique disease susceptibility, better diagnoses, earlier interventions, targeted and more efficient drug therapies and customized treatment.

What will you learn

After the course you will have acquired:

  • An overview of the toolbox of personalised medicine.
  • An understanding of challenges and pitfalls in the analyses and interpretation of “big data”.
  • Knowledge on the practical translation of research findings into clinical practise.
  • An understanding of genomics, epigenomics and pharmacogenenomics and how these have been or can be implemented in clinical medicine.
  • Insight into how principles of personalised medicine have been used to develop drugs and change treatment regimens to target therapy and improve outcomes.
  • Insight into the future perspectives of personalised medicine.

 

Course content

This course will provide insights into key principles and give a practical understanding of the concept of personalised medicine. The course will take you through important aspects of the strategy of personalised medicine from an overview of methodological principles, advances in research and application of these into daily clinical practice of medicine and drug development. The teaching style is interactive and includes a combination of lectures, discussions, group work and case studies/exercises.

The topics include:

  • Individual phenotyping
  • Genomic medicine
  • Epigenetics
  • Pharmacogenomics
  • Methodology in genome sequencing: understanding the basics
  • Challenges and pitfalls in statistical analyses of genomic data
  • Use of “big data” to develop a concept of personalised medicine
  • Imaging in personalised medicine
  • Using already developed medicines as part of a personalised medicine concept
  • Novel drug discoveries aimed for personalised medicine
  • Technologies to personalise the surgical procedure
  • From research to clinic - translation of results to daily clinical practice
  • The role of personalized medicine in research, prevention and tailored treatment of
    • Diabetes
    • Cardiovascular disease
    • Cancer
    • Immune deficiency
    • Transplantation
  • The perspective of the industry on personalised medicine
  • Public health: towards intelligent screening programmes and preventive interventions
  • Personalised medicine and health economics
  • Future perspectives of personalised medicine – in 10, 20 and 30 years


Participants

The course is for professionals working  in the field of medicine, bioinformatics or related health sciences (e.g. public health, humane biology and biotechnology), persons with special interest in technical aspects of health and medicine and persons from the pharmaceutical industry. It will also be of interest to those working in ministerial departments and the regions. The course offers an excellent introduction for those less familiar with the concept of personalised medicine and will provide a deeper understanding for health professionals with experience within the field.
Participants must hold at least a relevant bachelor degree or equivalent

Learning Outcome

See "What will you learn"

See "Course content"
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Class Instruction
  • 35
  • Preparation
  • 10
  • Total
  • 45
Credit
0 ECTS
Type of assessment
Course participation
None
Marking scale
Without assessment
Censorship form
No external censorship
Criteria for exam assesment

None