Spring 2007 Course Descriptions

G16.1998 Introduction to Pre-doctoral Research
This course is offered on a non-credit pass/fail basis and required of all first year graduate students. Students are expected to meet regularly with the Director to discuss research rotations and prepare reports on a quarterly basis discussing results.
Non-credit
Course Director: Joel Oppenheim (212) 263-8001 oppenj01@popmail.med.nyu.edu

G16.2000 Scientific Integrity and the Responsible Conduct of Research
A non-credit course entitled "Scientific Integrity and the Responsible Conduct of Research" is, as mandated by the NIH, required for all first year Ph.D. and M.D./Ph.D. students. The course meets weekly during the Spring semester for approximately 1 1/2 hours per week. Students are assigned to sections and are responsible for required readings and participating in discussion sessions. Case studies will be presented each week by senior graduate students and/or postdoctoral fellows. To evaluate the student's comprehension and retention of information presented during the course, a written final examination must be passed. Attendance is closely monitored throughout the course.
Non-credit
Course Director:
Debra Stalk, MPH (212) 263-3520 debra.stalk@med.nyu.edu

G16.2002 Foundations of Cell and Molecular Biology II
Foundations II provides a broad overview of cell biology, signal transduction, and basic genetic mechanisms in three modules. The Cell Biology module covers protein transport, endocytosis, molecular motors, cell-cell interaction and cell adhesion. The Signal Transduction module will include G-proteins, hormonal signaling, concepts in receptor tyrosine kinase signaling, and the cell cycle. The final segment provides an introduction to the genetics of bacterial and phages, yeast, drosophila, mice, and humans. Genetic approaches to whole genome analysis will also be emphasized. The reading of primary research articles is heavily stressed. Lectures will generally be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays in MSB 393 from 9:00 to 10:30 A.M. The discussion sessions, held on Friday, will be in two sections (9:00-10:30 A.M., and 10:30-12:00 noon) in the west wing of the Biochemistry Library (MSB 391). Sections will be decided during the first week of class. The course has a total of three exams that are a mixture of in-class and take-home exams. Attendance and participation in discussion sessions will account for a portion of the final grade.
6 credits
Course Director: James Borowiec (212) 263-8453 borowj01@popmail.med.nyu.edu

G16.2104 Tutorial in Advanced Cell Biology
This tutorial is required of advanced students in the cellular and molecular biology program. Students will be paired with CMB faculty to study a varied number of topics.
1.5 credits
Course Director: Daniel Rifkin (212) 263-5234
rifkid01@popmail.med.nyu.edu

G16.2210 Molecular Virology
This course is an introduction to the molecular biology and pathogenesis of animal viruses. Twenty lectures cover fundamental aspects of the viral lifecycle (viral entry into cells, replication, transformation, control of translation) host response (innate and acquired immune response), and explore the biology of a number of medically important RNA and DNA viruses including some emerging pathogens. Selected readings assigned by the lecturers will be discussed in separate sections. There will be one in class examination at the conclusion of the course.
4 credits
Course Direcctor: Ian Mohr (212) 263-0415
mohri01@popmail.med.nyu.edu
Syllabus

G16.2306 Introduction to Immunology
This comprehensive core course will provide a broad but intensive examination of the immune response, with a special emphasis on the experimental approaches that led to our current understanding of immunological principles. Designed for research-oriented students but open to others, the class will meet 2 times each week. Students will be assigned weekly reading in the form of textbook chapters and a primary research paper. Students and faculty will discuss the textbook information during one session each week, and regular quizzes on this information will provide feedback to all students on their preparation and progress. Critical analysis of the original research articles in a discussion format will be held on Fridays. The research papers will form the starting point for a dialogue between students and faculty that will probe intellectual and practical questions in immunology research, venturing beyond the material presented in the papers into related issues and current research. This is a discussion class and participation in the discussions will be required. Grading will be based on exams and participation. Mid-term and Final Exams will require students to apply general and specific information and approaches learned from the readings and discussion.
4 credits
Course Director: Michael Dustin (212) 263-3207
dustin@saturn.med.nyu.edu
Syllabus


G16.2404 Molecular Signaling and Drug Development
This course is divided into two parts. The first covers the basics of drug-receptor interactions, and modern approaches to the drug design and development process (virtual library screening, rational drug design, and combinatorial chemistry, etc.). The second part will explore novel possibilities for future drug development as related to specific medical problems, such as HIV, diseases of protein folding, angiogenesis inhibitors, inflammation, and stem cells. A subset of lectures are given by invited speakers from pharmaceutical or biotechnology companies. Each lecture is followed by a student presentation of a research paper and group discussion. At the end of the course, students write a paper outlining and testing a new idea for pharmacological intervention.
4 credits
Course Director: Timothy Cardozo (212) 263-6337
timc@saturn.med.nyu.edu

G16.2604 Bioinformatics
This is a practical course in Bioinformatics which will emphasize how to use the computer as a tool for biomedical research. The course will cover sequence similarity, multiple alignment, protein motifs and secondary structure, phylogenetics, genome browsers, and microarray data analysis. Students will learn basic UNIX commands and will write simple programs in Perl and shell scripting languages. Prerequisites include a thorough understanding of theoretical and practical aspects of molecular biology, and some University level mathematics and statistics, but no prior knowledge of computer programming or computer hardware is necessary.
4 credits
Course Director: Stuart Brown (212) 263-7689
browns02@popmail.med.nyu.edu
http://www.med.nyu.edu/rcr/rcr/course/syllabus.html

G16.2606 Tutorial in Developmental Genetics
This seminar is required for all graduate students in the Developmental Genetics program. Graduate students and postdoctoral fellows present recent results and discuss the history and future of their research projects.
1.5 credits
Course Director: Ruth Lehmann (212) 263-8071
lehmann@saturn.med.nyu.edu

G16.2608 Readings in Neuroscience
Journal Club required of all second and third year Neuroscience students.
1.5 credits
Course Director: Stewart Bloomfield (212) 263-5770 stewart.bloomfield@med.nyu.edu


G16.2609 Developmental Genetics II
This course is a continuation of the seminar series taught by faculty of the Developmental Genetics program in Fall '06. Successful completion of DG I and permission of the instructors is a prerequisite for participation in this course. The course combines a practical component and a discussion. In the practical part, experiments that have led to the discovery of important aspects of developmental biology are demonstrated and conducted by the students. For the discussion, student will read and discuss research articles pertinent to the respective laboratory session.
6 credits
Course Director: Ruth Lehmann (212) 263-8071
lehmann@saturn.med.nyu.edu

G16. 2611, Section 001 Tutorial in Neuroanatomy
Beginning in early January 2007 and ending on April 2nd, this course provides the basis for Neuroscience Systems course that follows, immediately. The course will include laboratory, conferences, lectures and didactic examinations. Upon completion, students should be able to conceptualize the structural and general functional organization of the human nervous system.
This course presents the central and peripheral nervous systems in terms of anatomical localization, connectivity and functional relevance of NS organization. We will analyze sensory systems and their topographical projections into the CNS together with output as fundamental controls of behavior. The presentations will include the hierarchy of integrative centers that act to generate simple to complex reflexes and the formulation of consciousness and memory. The lectures will focus on spinal cord, brainstem, cerebellum, thalamus/hypothalamus, basal ganglia, limbic centers and cortical regions as components of interconnection and function. Development and comparative phylogeny will be used to illustrate organizational relationships in the adult human brain. Attendees will be able to describe effects of localized lesions at specific sites along the neuraxis or recognize functional deficits as being from localized brain or spinal cord involvement.
3 credits
Course Directors:
Dean Hillman (212) 263-7430 hillmd01@popmail.med.nyu.edu
Kalman Rubinson (212) 263-6792 kr4@nyu.edu
Syllabus

G16. 2611, Section 002 Tutorial in Systems Neuroscience
This course will run from February - April. This course is required for all first year Neuroscience students to be taken in conjunction with the Cellular and Developmental tutorials offered this spring. Details to follow.
3 credits
Course Director: Esther Gardner 212 263 5412
gardne01@popmail.med.nyu.edu


G16. 2611, Section 003 Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
This course will run from January through February. This course is required for all first year Neuroscience students to be taken in conjunction with the Systems Neuroscience and Developmental Neuroscience tutorials offered this spring. Details to follow.
3 credits
Course Director: Jim Salzer 212 263 0758
salzer@saturn.med.nyu.edu

G16. 2611, Section 004 Developmental Neuroscience
This course will run from April through June 2nd. This course is required for all first year Neuroscience students to be taken in conjunction with the Systems Neuroscience and Cellular and Molecular tutorials offered this spring. Details to follow.
3 credits
Course Directors:
Gord Fishell 212 263 7691
fishell@saturn.med.nyu.edu
Jim Salzer 212 263 0758
salzer@saturn.med.nyu.edu

G16. 2611, Section 005 Tutorial in Parasitology
Students in the Parasitology training program can select this tutorial for a variable amount of credits. Topics of interest and number of hours/credits is arranged with the course director.
Variable 1.5 - 3 credits
Course Director:
Dan Eichinger 212 263-8171
eichid01@med.nyu.edu

G16.2616 Intro to Parasitology
This course is an introduction to the range of eukaryotic organisms that cause disease in humans. We will cover medically important helminthes, protozoans and arthropods. The latter will be covered as both agents and vectors of human disease. For each pathogen we will learn its life history, epidemiology, clinical features of the disease it causes and pathogenesis. In addition there will be lectures on parasites and global public health, parasite genomics, vaccines for parasitic infections and drugs for parasitic infections. We will also cover the basic principles of laboratory diagnosis and treatment. In the laboratory sessions students will look at prepared slides, make wet mounts of live parasites and learn to prepare thick and thin blood films for diagnosis of malaria. At the end of the course, students will work on group projects in which they will learn about and present a research topic that is of interest to them.
3 credits
Course Director:
Photini Sinnis 212 263-6818
sinnip01@popmail.med.nyu.edu
Syllabus


G16.4012 - 4402 Readings in Biochemistry - Structural Biology
Students can sign up for a 1-3 credit readings course as an elective. The graduate student will select a faculty member that is working in an area matching their interests.
1-4 credits
Course Director: Various

G16.4403, Advanced Techniques in Structural Biology
This course will teach students the underlying theory and techniques used in x-ray crystallography, electron microscopy, NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and computer modeling. The information in this course will enable students to pursue their dissertation research in structural biology. Topics include: x-ray diffraction, phasing and refinement; cryo-electron microscopy; image processing and tomography; multi-dimensional NMR spectroscopy; MALSDI-TOF and Q-TOPF mass spectrometry; and ab initio and homology modeling of proteins.
4 credits
Course Director: Xiangpeng Kong (212) 263-7897
kong@saturn.med.nyu.edu

G16.4409, Advanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Magnetic resonance imaging is a fast-growing interdisciplinary field. This course continues from “Fundamentals of MRI” taught in the fall, and successful completion of the fall course is a prerequisite. Advanced MRI introduces and utilizes mathematical concepts such as the Fourier transform, k-space and the Bloch equations to describe the physical and mathematical principles governing data acquisition and image reconstruction. Topics covered will include diffusion, perfusion, functional brain imaging, cardiac MRI, spectroscopic imaging, clinical MRI, rf engineering, contrast agents and molecular imaging. This course includes weekly lectures, discussion sessions revolving around assigned research articles, and practical labs pertinent to material covered in the lectures.
3 credits
Course Director: Qun Chen (212) 263-3308
qun.chen@med.nyu.edu
Syllabus

G16.4410, Advanced Tissues and Organ Systems
This course is a continuation of the Pathobiology laboratory and lecture courses taught in the Fall. Successful completion of these two introductory courses as well as permission by the instructors is a prerequisite for this course. The Advanced course combines a practical lab component with lectures and discussions. The first half of the course focuses on three complex organ systems: the cardiovascular, endocrine and nervous systems. The goals will be to understand the individual systems as well as their interactions with other systems and resulting impact on the function or dysfunction of the organism as a whole. The goal of the second half of the course will be to provide a strong foundation in basic immunology and the host response to infectious, inflammatory, and autoimmune stimuli. The laboratory sessions will provide a more robust, 3-dimensional understanding of normal organ function as well as better conceptualization of the underlying cellular processes leading to disease.
Each student is expected to have read the relevant chapters and articles before each session and to be able to present a summary and critique of the research papers at the discussion sessions. Active participation throughout the course and an oral presentation in the last session will contribute to the final grade.
4 credits
Course directors:
Cynthia Loomis, M.D., Ph.D. - 263- 6827
loomic01@med.nyu.edu
Sandra Demaria M.D. - 263-7308
demars01@popmail.med.nyu.edu
Syllabus


G16.4411, Pathobiology of Disease I
Pathobiology of Disease focuses on the molecular, cellular and organismal basis of disease pathogenesis and how modern experimental approaches have led to new therapies. As part of the Experimental Pathology program, students will take the course twice: in the spring semester of both their first and second years. Each year the course will discuss two complex disease entities. In the spring 2007, these will be osteoporosis and breast cancer. The course will be based upon student presentations and the critical evaluation of selected papers from the contemporary literature. There will also be a writing component to the course: students write their own abstracts to existing papers that approach disease pathophysiology in whole animal models. This exercise will help students learn how to distill core data from in vivo experiments, and to appreciate the inherent advantages and limitations of in vivo approaches.
Course Director: Adrian Erlebacher 212 - 263-8926 adrian.erlebacher@med.nyu.edu
Syllabus