Precision and Genomic Medicine

Catalog description

Genomic medicine is gaining momentum across the entire clinical continuum. This course will provide an introduction to the latest advances in genome research and their impact on medicine. This graduate level course focuses on quantitative engineering principles and precision measurements.The course has a modular structure and tackles a broad range of topics. Course modules will start with a discussion of molecular principles and basic concepts relevant to the module topic, will then proceed with a discussion of contemporary examples and applications, supported by a discussion of recent literature, and will incorporate discussion of relevant computational biology concepts. Topics will include:i) Foundational principles of precision medicine, with an introduction to the human genome, a discussion of modern DNA and RNA sequencing technologies, and basic principles of genome analyses;ii) A survey of cancer genomes, and an introduction to precision measurements of the genetic diversity within tumors;iii) Principles of precision diagnostics, a discussion of omics-enabled prenatal testing, organ transplant monitoring and cancer diagnostics. An in-depth discussion of the structure, function and diversity of the circulating genome.iv) Overview of the impact of genomics on Infectious disease. Measurements of viral sequence diversity and the implications for antiviral therapy. Discussion of the concept of viral quasi-species. Brief introduction to the human microbiome, with a focus on measurement principles;v) Gene expression in human tissues. Discussion of recent advances in single-cell genomics, with a focus on technologies and applications;vi) Principles of immune repertoire sequencing;vii) Omics-enabled analyses of the epigenome and the three dimensional structure of the genome.