Special Topics: Precision Medicine for Biomedical Engineers

Catalog description

Precision medicine seeks to move beyond one-size-fits-all treatments by targeting disease heterogeneity at the molecular-, tissue-, and patient-level. The goal of this course is to cover emerging strategies for the profiling and treatment of disease based on a patient's unique biological profile. Topics covered by this course will include (1) profiling disease heterogeneity using omics and biological sequencing, (2) disease biomarkers, (3) genetics and risk stratification, (4) electronic medical records, and (5) prognostic models and clinical decision-making. Throughout this course, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), and heart failure (HF) will be used as case studies for the application of precision medicine concepts. Machine learning and large language models will also be discussed as emerging tools for pattern extraction in various areas of precision medicine. Basic familiarity with a high-level programming language (e.g. Python, MATLAB) is preferred, though publicly available computational tools will be provided for students' usage.