BS7019 Fundamentals of Immunology-Concepts and Experiments

Course Coordinator: Associate Professor Su I-Hsin (email: [email protected]

Availability: Semester 2

This course aims to introduce basic concepts in immunology and engage students to work on open questions/ unresolved problems in immunology. You will learn fundamentals of the immune system including immune cells, their functions and distributions as well as molecular and cellular components of innate immunity and adaptive immunity. In order to properly understand immunological data, you will also learn how to analyze flow cytometry example data files using appropriate software. To further develop your critical thinking skills in the context of immunological research, you are expected to read and interpret original research publications and perform extensive literature search on selected topics in immunology. In addition to the 11 lectures of selected subjects, this course also requires you to present summary of assigned research topics and compose a short original research proposal. You will propose experimental strategies to solve the problems in the research proposal. In this way, you are encouraged to utilize the knowledge you have acquired throughout your studies, instead of just memorizing facts. This course should help you to understand immunological concepts and identify open questions, then develop some of the problem solving skills required for a career in research and other types of creative jobs.
 
Topics
  1. Recorded basic immunology-overview 1 (discussion in class)
  2. Recorded basic immunology-overview 2 (discussion in class)
  3. FACS analysis of developing B/ T cells and Macrophage, monocytes, dendritic cells.
  4. Innate immunity-I
  5. Innate immunity-II
  6. V(D)J recombination, B cell development and selection
  7. T cell development and activation (self vs non-self)
  8. MHC (HLA human aspect)
  9. Dynamics of adaptive immunity Immune
  10. Transcriptional regulation of lymphocyte development
  11. Cancer immunology and immune therapy
 
Assessment
Group presentation: 30%
Research proposal: 20%
Online MCQ: 10%
FACS analysis: 10%
Final CA Test: 30%