This course teaches students the basics of the medical sciences. The course will be organized by organ system, beginning with a discussion of normal anatomy and physiology and progressing to a discussion of 4-6 important diseases that affect each organ system. Discussions of diseases will focus on current understanding, treatment and future directions in diagnosis and management.

Instructor: Adam Cifu, MD

Any quantitative (e.g. data science, statistics, machine learning, programming) or qualitative course (e.g. case studies, interviewing skills, etc.) offered across the University can be used to fulfill this core class. More details will be shared by your program advisor during course advising meetings. 

Introduction to Biomedical and Clinical Ethics I 

This course covers basic methods and theories of biomedical ethics, including strengths and weakness of the most common methods. Topics include the history of the development of modern biomedical ethics, including important legal rulings, seminal articles, and policy statements, as well as historic “missing pieces” in modern bioethics: structural injustice, payments, workforce, and leadership. Finally, students will learn practical processes for applying ethical reasoning to specific clinical experiences. This course fulfills the bioethics core requirement of the MS Biomedical Sciences program. 

Instructor: Peter Smith, MD, MA

 Introduction to Biomedical and Clinical Ethics II 

This course will address ethically challenging issues in medicine today. This is an extension of Introduction to Biomedical and Clinical Ethics I with topics including: Genetics, Research, Organ Transplantation, and Reproductive Ethics among others. This is a seminar format, with engagement of learners through preparation with seminal texts and active discussion to carry out the ethical analysis. This course can fulfill the bioethics requirement of the MS Biomedical Sciences program.

Instructor: Megan Applewhite, MD, MA

This foundational course provides students with essential knowledge in biochemistry, cell and molecular biology, immunology, microbiology, and pharmacology that underlies human health and disease. Students will explore biomolecule structure and function, cellular processes including protein synthesis and cell division, immune system mechanisms, microbial pathogenesis, and fundamental pharmacological principles. Through integrated lectures and problem-solving exercises, students will develop the analytical framework necessary for advanced biomedical study and gain the molecular-level understanding required to interpret research literature and clinical applications in subsequent coursework.

Instructor: Emily Masser, PhD

This course will take the format of a National Institutes of Health R21 research grant proposal to teach students the basics of scientific writing. This grant proposal will describe the specific aims, significance, innovation, research team, approach, and environment of the research project. It will contain preliminary data in addition to other relevant preliminary data from the host laboratory. It will then propose experiments to test the fundamental hypothesis of the project.

Instructors: Glenn Randall, PhD & Emily Masser, PhD

This course provides an in-depth exploration of cellular biology, building upon the foundational concepts introduced in Molecular and Cellular Foundations. Students will delve deeper into complex cellular processes including advanced signal transduction pathways, membrane trafficking and vesicular transport, cellular metabolism and energy production, epigenetics and regulation of gene expression, and the molecular mechanisms governing cell cycle regulation and apoptosis. The course will also examine the cellular basis of disease states such as cancer. This course prepares students for specialized research in cellular biology while developing the analytical skills necessary to understand how cellular dysfunction contributes to human disease.

Instructor: Emily Masser, PhD

When Biology Goes Wrong: A Disease-Based Approach

This course bridges fundamental biomedical knowledge with clinical disease states, allowing students to apply concepts from biochemistry, cell and molecular biology, immunology, microbiology, and pharmacology to real-world pathological conditions. Students will explore a different disease each week through a two-part format: a didactic lecture examining the underlying pathophysiology at the molecular and cellular level, followed by a case study session that contextualizes the disease within clinical presentations and patient scenarios. Students will analyze how disruptions in normal biological processes lead to disease manifestations, evaluate diagnostic approaches, and assess therapeutic interventions. This course develops critical thinking skills essential for biomedical research and clinical practice by requiring students to integrate their foundational knowledge and apply it to complex disease mechanisms across diverse organ systems and patient populations.

Instructor: Emily Masser, PhD

Research in Biological Sciences – Primary Literature Analysis

This course will review and critically analyze primary literature spanning a broad range of basic science research. Students will work with instructor(s) to identify both current and historically important publications. The students will be expected to independently research the relevant background to the publication. The student will then be expected to present the background, major findings, and experimental details of the paper. All students will be expected to critically analyze the paper, identifying strengths and weaknesses. Finally, the broader future implications on the paper will be discussed.

Instructors: Elias Gerrick, PhD, & Mohammed Kaplan, PhD

Inside the Cell: Advanced Mechanisms and Functions

This course provides an in-depth exploration of cellular biology, building upon the foundational concepts introduced in Molecular and Cellular Foundations. Students will delve deeper into complex cellular processes including advanced signal transduction pathways, membrane trafficking and vesicular transport, cellular metabolism and energy production, epigenetics and regulation of gene expression, and the molecular mechanisms governing cell cycle regulation and apoptosis. The course will also examine the cellular basis of disease states such as cancer. This course prepares students for specialized research in cellular biology while developing the analytical skills necessary to understand how cellular dysfunction contributes to human disease.

Instructor: Emily Masser, PhD

Introduction to Biomedical and Clinical Ethics I

This course covers basic methods and theories of biomedical ethics, including strengths and weaknesses of the most common methods. Topics include the history of the development of modern biomedical ethics, including important legal rulings, seminal articles, and policy statements, as well as historic “missing pieces” in modern bioethics: structural injustice, payments, workforce, and leadership. Finally, students will learn practical processes for applying ethical reasoning to specific clinical experiences. This course fulfills the bioethics core requirement of the MS Biomedical Sciences program.

Instructor: Peter Smith, MD, MA

Introduction to Biomedical and Clinical Ethics II

This course will address ethically challenging issues in medicine today. This is an extension of Introduction to Biomedical and Clinical Ethics I with topics including: Genetics, Research, Organ Transplantation, and Reproductive Ethics among others. This is a seminar format, with engagement of learners through preparation with seminal texts and active discussion to carry out the ethical analysis. This course can fulfill the bioethics requirement of the MS Biomedical Sciences program.

Instructor: Megan Applewhite, MD, MA

Healthcare Ethics Consultation Service

Course description will be available soon.

Instructor: Micah Prochaska, MD, MSc

Good Hands: Research Ethics

Basic research is intended to explore and evaluate truth claims at the edge of our understanding of the natural and physical world, and it is this very quality that renders it useful as science. Yet, this often creates significant ethical questions for the research as well as for the social order in which all research takes place. Often, courses in research ethics focus on the establishment and enforcement of canonical rules of behavior, where the goal is to inform the investigator about how to follow these established rules. This course will turn to a different set of problems in research ethics. While we will begin with a foundation in the history of research ethics, reviewing the key cases that shaped the policies about which we have consensus, (human and animal subject protections; authorship, etc.) will consider the problems about which there is not yet a clear ethical course: what are the limits of human mastery? Why is research deception so prevalent? Are there experiments which are impermissible and why? What is the obligation of the researcher toward their community? How can we think clearly and ethically in situations of deep uncertainty? We will consider how moral philosophy as well as theological arguments have shaped research science and reflect on the nature, goal and meaning of basic and translational research in modernity.

Instructor: Laurie Zoloth, PhD

Medical Product Development

This course will explore the research, development, testing, and regulatory approval pathway to market in the United States for drugs, devices, diagnostics, and digital health solutions. Topics will include review of FDA regulations, the phases of the medical product development cycle, phase I-IV clinical trials, marketing submissions (New Drug Approval, Premarket Approval), the economics of medical product development, and postmarket safety requirements.

Instructor: Melissa Byrn

Launching a Bioscience Venture

This course explores the key stages and activities involved in launching a biomedical venture. Topics include finding platform/disease fit; building a team; navigating sources of capital; creating a milestone strategy; developing an IP strategy; and pitching. During the course, students will be exposed to concrete frameworks used by early-stage companies and venture capitalists. They will then apply these frameworks to a real, early-stage biotech startup, in the context of a course-length diligence project.

Instructor: Steven Lehmann, MBA

Innovations in Healthcare Practice

This course introduces students to an overview of clinical practice in healthcare where we will discuss how innovation such as work in genetic medicine, precision medicine, fetal health and advancing technology (data analytics, Apps, EMR’s, artificial intelligence, new tools) pose formidable challenges for patients/families and their healthcare providers. This includes individuals interfacing with healthcare. This class will provide an overview of common clinical opportunities and challenges relating to clinical practice and the evolving role of professionals working in healthcare in these emerging areas. There are significant discrepancies between what we see in the media and the reality of what is occurring in clinical settings. There are ethical, legal, and health equity considerations in these new areas of practice that affect patient care and access to services. Participants will gain an understanding of the current scope of practice with emerging technologies.

Instructor: Soo Shim, MBA, LCSW