Courses
The courses are delivered during weekends. The attendance of the courses, workshops and tutorials as well as the participation in the semester exams is mandatory for obtaining the MSc diploma. Incomplete or insufficient attendance combined with examination failure, as stated below, leads to discontinuation of studies. The specific weight of the courses is expressed in ECTS units. The courses award thirty (30) ECTS credits per semester. Part of the courses may take the form of seminars, laboratory exercises or tutorials. Upon successful attendance the program 120 ECTS are totally awarded .
Research methodology–Biostatistics
Compulsory // 5 ECTS
Systems biology - Omics technologies
Compulsory // 5 ECTS
Bioinformatics
Compulsory // 5 ECTS
Nanomedicine
Compulsory // 5 ECTS
Pharmacogenomics
Compulsory // 5 ECTS
Translational medicine and data analysis
Compulsory // 5 ECTS
Personalized diagnosis and treatment
Compulsory // 6 ECTS
Innovative therapies - Regulatory framework
Compulsory // 6 ECTS
Rotation #1
Compulsory // 6 ECTS
Rotation #2
Compulsory // 6 ECTS
Rotation #3
Compulsory // 5 ECTSDiploma thesis
Compulsory // 30 ECTSCurrent methodologies in novel drug development
Semester B' // 6 ECTS
Current methods in drug repurposing using -omics data
Semester B' // 6 ECTS
Molecular technology
Semester B' // 6 ECTS
Programming tools & applications to -omics technologies
Semester B' // 6 ECTS
Research methodology - Biostatistics
Good laboratory practice (GLP). Statistics in bioinformatics analysis. Mathematical models and algorithms in biostatistics. Statistical methodologies in personalized medicine. Statistical tools and biomedicine. Analysis of clinical research data and molecular signatures. Artificial intelligence and predictive models. Informatics and mathematics in research methodology. Bioinformatics databases and servers. Molecular dynamics simulations and molecular analysis in biology and therapeutics. Programming in R. Ethics of research and biostatistical analysis.
TopSystems biology - Omics technologies
Cellular communication. Cell signaling molecules and pathways. Microenvironment and cellular phenotype. Modeling of cellular systems. Tumor biology. Cancer cell genome. Metabolomics. Proteomics. Genetics. New generation succession. Comparative genomics. Molecular analysis microplates and transcriptome. Structural and functional genomics. Analysis of cellular signal transduction networks. Molecular signatures of clinical interest. Systemic pharmacology.
TopBioinformatics
Genome complexity and computational challenges. Usage scenarios of popular genomic databases and tools. Basic algorithms and analysis methodologies. High-throughput analysis methods for WES, RNA-seq, ChIP-seq, proteomics, metabolomics data. Workflow development in Galaxy. Multi-omics data integration. Development of machine learning applications.
TopNanomedicine
Nanotechnology and personalized medicine. Nanotechnology and genomic technologies. Personalized nanomedicine. Innovative medical technology tools. Nanosystems and biomaterials. Innovative drug delivery systems. Microfluidics and 3D printing systems. Biocompatible scaffolds and biotechnological applications. Formulation of innovative therapeutics and personalized medicine. Nanomedicine and regenerative medicine. Bioimaging and innovative therapeutics. Nanosensors. Exosomes and self-assembling peptides.
TopPharmacogenomics
The evolution of pharmacogenetics to pharmacogenomics in modern pharmacology. Genomic technologies and pharmacological drug development. Experimental methodologies for clinical utilization of pharmacogenomic data. Genetic polymorphism of drug-metabolizing enzymes and transporters. Differential pharmacological response in clinical practice. Pharmacogenomic approach to enhance drug safety in clinical practice. Pharmacogenomic databases. Pharmacogenomics of anticancer drugs. Pharmacogenomics and cardiotoxicity. Drug hepatotoxicity and pharmacogenomics. Drug prescribing and pharmacogenomic data.
TopTranslational medicine and data analysis
Biomedical research and information analysis. Data mining and management. Precision medicine and accompanying diagnostics. Methodologies for clinical translation of molecular data. Good Clinical Practice (GCP) framework. Validation and clinical utilization of biomarkers. Disease models. Omics methodologies and tools. Security and efficiency Regulatory frameworks and personal data. Molecular databases and clinical utilization.
TopInnovative therapies - Regulatory framework
Innovative drug carriers and personalized medicine. Personalized medicine and innovative cell therapies. Development and clinical practice of biotechnological medicines. Pharmacogenomics and biotechnological drugs. Clinical guidelines and pharmacogenomic data. Cellular therapies. Protein therapy. Gene therapies. RNA therapeutics. Cancer immunotherapy. IVT-mRNA therapeutics. Regulatory framework and innovative therapeutics. Gene vectors. Crisp/Cas9 therapeutic approaches. Clinical protocols and regulatory agencies.
TopPersonalized diagnosis and treatment
Genomic medicine. Regulatory framework and molecular diagnostics. Pathophysiology and molecular diagnosis. Pharmacology and drug prescribing and pharmacogenomics. Application of OMICS methodologies in clinical practice. Personalized cancer medicine. Personalized medicine and the cardiovascular system. Neurodegenerative diseases and personalized medicine. Molecular diagnostic methodologies. Drug interactions. Population pharmacokinetics and personalized medicine. PBPK models and personalized medicine. Pharmacovigilance and personalized medical practice. Ethical - social issues and personalized medicine.
TopRotation
During the first year, three laboratory exercises (rotations) are carried out in three different research groups, under the supervision of members of the D.P.M.S. During each internship, the students are required to prepare a two-month research program by actively participating in the work of the research group and to submit a written report to the head of the laboratory within 10 days of the end of the internship, in order to familiarize themselves with the research methodology in real situations conditions. Performance in these exercises is graded by those in charge. The first exercise is determined by lottery by the coordinating committee. The second and third exercises are carried out in a laboratory of the students' choice. after the approval of the coordinating committee which takes into account the students' preference and the availability of the workshops. Students declare their preferences for 2nd and 3rd rotation at the earliest one week before the end of the previous one.
Host research groupsMolecular technology (Elective course)
Acquisition of knowledge and skills related to the implementation of basic techniques and methods in the fields of modern Molecular Biology and Biochemistry. Isolation of nucleic acids (DNA, RNA) and proteins from various biological samples, their qualitative and quantitative characterization, nucleic acid and protein electrophoresis techniques (species, gel types) and their sequencing methodologies, genetic engineering enzymes (restriction enzymes, modifying enzymes), techniques analysis of gene expression (at RNA/protein level) and modern molecular diagnostic approaches (mutation detection techniques, genetic identification methods, molecular tissue investigation, etc.). These techniques find enormous application in modern Medical Research as well as in Molecular Diagnostics.
TopCurrent methodologies in novel drug development (Elective course)
Scientific issues concerning the contemporary environment of the development of new therapeutics, the staged methodology of new drug development, approaches to the development of specialized drugs with targeted action, technological developments in molecular pharmacology, combinatorial chemistry and high-throughput techniques, applications of pharmacoeconomics and of pharmacoepidemiology, the pharmacovigilance environment, the regulatory framework for the development of new drugs, the simulation models of pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics, bioequivalence studies, the clinical translation of molecular knowledge, the development of systems pharmacology, specific examples of successful development of new therapeutics, as well as the application of accompanying diagnostics during the prescription and clinical administration of therapeutics.
TopCurrent methods in drug repurposing using -omics data (Elective course)
A comprehensive review of the current state of the art in the use of modern bioinformatics and -omics methodologies in drug-repurposing. Available databases of drugs and potential targets. -omics data repositories and methodologies for data selection, analysis and visualization. Methodologies for integrating -omics data and their visualization. The role of network analysis in finding and selecting potential drug targets. Tools for finding and evaluating the most suitable retargeting drugs. Compare and evaluate all available tools. Future challenges.
TopProgramming tools & applications to -omics technologies (Elective course)
Introduction to R/Rstudio programming language. Programming fundamentals, syntax, data structures, functions and data visualization libraries. CRAN/Bioconductor repositories. Importing data from public repositories. Microarray and next-generation sequencing data analysis packages. Differential -omics analysis of patient data. Machine learning models in R. Dynamic documents and reports in R (R Quarto).
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