SHUA13059U Stem Cells in Mammalian Development Differentiation and Disease

Volume 2023/2024
Education

MSc Programme in Human Biology – elective course 

MSc Programme in Molecular Biomedicine (joint with SCIENCE) – elective course

MSc Programme in Immunology and Inflammation – elective course

MSc Programme in Biomedical Engineering (joint with DTU) – elective course

MSc Programme in Quantitative Biology and Disease Modelling (joint with DTU) – elective course

 

Open for other MSc students in Natural Sciences or Health and Medical Sciences.

Content

The course offers comprehensive state-of-the-art knowledge in the stem cell biology research area. Participants will be taken to the frontline of stem cell and developmental biology and introduced to: fundamental properties of naïve and primed pluripotency states, stem cells role in tissue regeneration and homeostasis, liver and pancreas development, hematopoietic and epithelial stem cells biology.

Expert researchers will go through most important and remarkable discoveries in the field of stem cell research. In addition, students will gain experience in reading, understanding and critical evaluation of scientific literature and will be trained to apply analytical approach in understanding of research results.Lecture course and discussion cover advanced concepts of stem cell biology and include the latest insights into stem cell research. Participants will be introduced to the role of stem cells in early embryogenesis, tissue development, organogenesis and disease. The tutors are leading scientists from the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Medicine, reNEW and invited experts. The lectures will be supplemented by literature review sessions and tutorials.

Learning Outcome

After the course the student is expected to be able to:

Knowledge

Posess state-of-the-art knowledge and deep understanding of research results in the following areas:

  • Naïve pluripotency and preimplantation development
  • Primed pluripotency and postimplantation development, stem cells and morphogenesis
  • Neural development and stem cells
  • Organogenesis I. Pancreas
  • Organogenesis II. Liver
  • Epithelial stem cells (skin and intestine)
  • Homeostasis and disease
  • Hematopoietic stem cells

 

Skills

  • Distinguish and understand important research questions within the area
  • Apply critical thinking to research topics
  • Exercise analytical approach to research projects’ outcomes
  • Demonstrate insight into stem cells role in development and disease

 

Competencies

  • Explain topics of interest within the research areas
  • Understand the capabilities and limitations of techniques used in stem cell research
  • Perform critical reading of scientific manuscripts and finding necessary material for thorough understanding of the papers.
  • Evaluate ideas for research projects

1) Essentials of Stem Cell Biology

Editors: Robert Lanza Anthony Atala

Hardcover ISBN: 9780124095038

eBook ISBN: 9780124104273

Imprint: Academic Press

  1. 2) Reviews and research articles with recent advances in the field, will be provided before/during the course and placed at Absalon.  

 

For every session students will be advised to prepare themselves by reading one of the chapters from the book, one review and/or two research articles.

A completed Bachelor degree within the Biomedical and Natural Sciences. Strong background in molecular biology, cell biology and genetics is required.
Lectures, one-on-one tutorials and literature review sessions.
The course and assessment are in English. Students must be able to understand, speak, read and write scientific English at a high level.
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Class Instruction
  • 24
  • Preparation
  • 72
  • Guidance
  • 16
  • Exam
  • 30
  • Total
  • 142
Oral
Individual
Collective

Students will get individual oral feedback on their ideas for the topic of the final paper, and will then receive some written or oral feedback on the final written paper.

Credit
5 ECTS
Type of assessment
Course participation
Type of assessment details
Written assessment

1) Students get an assignment and take it home. They should address a question from one of the lectures (choose one of three areas and agree on the question) and write an essay (10 pages), contributing their own critical assessment and using assigned recent research articles and reviews of the field. Assignment should be completed in one week and students upload the files by a deadline.
2) In-class written assessment, where students are expected to write a long answer to one of the questions on the topics of the lectures. There will be single question on every topic and questions will be distributed in advance, during the tutorials.

Essay and in-class written assessment will be evaluated according to the level of knowledge, skills and competencies, described in the learning outcome section, shown by student.
Exam registration requirements

Exam registration requirements
Must be registered for the course and have participated in lectures and tutorials to be eligible for written examination. Overall assessment is based on written examination.

 

Aid
All aids allowed
Marking scale
7-point grading scale
Censorship form
No external censorship
Internal examiners
Criteria for exam assesment

To achieve the grade Passed, the student must be able to:

Knowledge

Posess state-of-the-art knowledge and deep understanding of research results in the following areas:

  • Naïve pluripotency and preimplantation development
  • Primed pluripotency and postimplantation development, stem cells and morphogenesis
  • Neural development and stem cells
  • Organogenesis I. Pancreas
  • Organogenesis II. Liver
  • Epithelial stem cells (skin and intestine)
  • Homeostasis and disease
  • Hematopoietic stem cells

 

Skills

  • Distinguish and understand important research questions within the area
  • Apply critical thinking to research topics
  • Exercise analytical approach to research projects’ outcomes
  • Demonstrate insight into stem cells role in development and disease

 

Competencies

  • Explain topics of interest within the research areas
  • Understand the capabilities and limitations of techniques used in stem cell research
  • Perform critical reading of scientific manuscripts and finding necessary material for thorough understanding of the papers.
  • Evaluate ideas for research projects