Course Proposal

I've mentioned to some folks that I am working on pitching an idea for a Continuing Education course for Westchester Community College. The proposal idea is due August 15th, which gives me a bit of time (or so it seems). And thanks to some great friends I've had a good deal of input on my ideas. Once I've got things more solid, a teacher or two have offered to have a look and give me some advice as well. I've also got one collaborator on the concept well, which has been super. The first lecture outline was completely inspired by him and helped me drop a less accessible topic.

Thanks Rob!

I'm going to post the progress here and invite more comments from the peanut gallery. I've been urged to teach by many people and I know I have a lot to offer. But that doesn't make designing a course from scratch any easier. It is a lot of work.

I'm pitching this course to adults who have some background or interest in science and want to learn more about where science is headed. I want to add to the knowledge that they might gain by doing a simple Google search by delving into the current literature that would be a little advanced or inaccessible to the general public. I want to go further than Scientific American for example.

Each lecture will begin with a few questions to get the class motivated and ready for the discussion. The last half of the class will be called "The Cutting Edge", and will outline some of the latest ideas in a particular area. Hopefully these will be completely new to the class and will not have yet reached the "main stream" for the most part.

I'm starting with six, one and a half our sessions. The topics will involve ideas that excite me as a scientist. It is my course, so why not?

You'll see that some lectures are more developed than others. But all the topics are open for comment, either here or by email.

Watch for an update to this in August. This will motivate me to get this done for sure.

Course Title:
New Frontiers in Science and Medicine

LECTURE 1: WHY A $100 GENOME?

“It has long been a dream of medical researchers and clinicians to be able to quickly and inexpensively sequence the genome of an individual in order to gain a better understanding of the generic background in which a disease state presents. By knowing the sequence of a patient’s genome, clinicians may deduce the susceptibility of the patient to certain diseases, characterize the types of treatments that are likely effective if a disease presents, and make rapid decisions on the effectiveness of treatment options if a patient falls ill. It is hoped that better, more effective treatments, tailored strictly to the individual can be provided.“
GEN Apr 15 2009 (Vol. 29, No. 8)

Opening Discussion Questions:

What is the human genome?
What was the human genome project?
What does the human genome project mean to you?

LECTURE OUTLINE

The Human Genome:

What is it?
Why is it important?
What can it tell us?
Disease Detection
Cancer
Alzheimer’s
How are we different from other animals?

The Human Genome Project:

What was it?
Why was it important?
Original cost
Current costs

Sequencing:

What is sequencing?
How was it originally done?
How is it currently done?
How might the $100 genome sequence become a reality?

The Cutting Edge - Using SNPs:

What are SNPs?
Why are they important?
Examples of SNPs
How are SNPs used for sequencing?

Extending the Cutting Edge: The Good the Bad and the Ugly of Genome Sequencing:

Development of effective or personalized therapies
What are the limits of the technology?
Small sample sizes and current costs
Disease propensity
What does a positive really mean?
Ethical Issues
Privacy issues and the insurance industry
What should I do with the information?
What if I don’t want to know?
What will it mean for the future?
GATTAGA Movie

LECTURE 2: NEW ANTIBIOTICS AND MRSA

Opening Discussion Questions:

What is an antibiotic?
What problems are the problems faced by traditional antibiotics?
What is MRSA?

LECTURE OUTLINE

The History of Antibiotics:

Before and after Sir Alexander Fleming
How do they work?
What are the most common types?

The Current Challenge:

What is antibiotic resistance and why does it occur?
What is MRSA?
History
Classes
Current Issues
Awareness in the Health Profession

The Cutting Edge:

How can we beat the bugs? Not so cutting edge.
What does the future hold? Targeting is key.
New Antibiotics
Nanoparticles
Photosensitization
Chemical Agents
Bacteriophage

LECTURE 3: STEADY ADVANCES IN MRI

New compounds that will allow molecules to be seen by MRI and also act as drug delivery vehicles are currently in development. These avant-garde complexes are being linked to small protein sequences known to home to developing tumors. This technique would provide a reliable, non-invasive, molecular imaging tool to identify disease lesions and study them in detail using simple MRI techniques. This technology will provide a rapid and thorough molecular understanding of disease to help physicians decide the most effective therapeutic course, and allow for the monitoring of patients in real-time from an initial diagnosis, through therapy and even afterwards.

Opening Discussion Questions:

Who has had an MRI?
What can you see with an MRI vs. and X-ray or ultrasound?

LECTURE OUTLINE

What is MRI?

MRI vs. X-ray, computed tomography and ultrasound imaging
Basic physics of MRI

Contrast Agents:

What is a contrast agent and why do we need them?
Brighening Contrast
Darkening Contrast

What is MRI typically used for in the clinic?

Newer Techniques:

Angiography
fMRI
pMRI

The Cutting Edge:

Cell tracking
Molecular MRI
Alzheimer’s Disease
Cancer
Prion Disease

LECTURE 4: CAN WE REBUILD IT? TRANSPLANTS OR TISSUE ENGINEERING?

Opening Discussion Questions:

LECTURE OUTLINE

The Cutting Edge:

LECTURE 5: CANCER STEM CELLS: FACT OR FICTION, CAUSE OR THERAPY?

Many cancer scientists believe that cancer stem cells are critical to the development of tumors, but their origin is not clear. Consequently research investigating the role of stem cells in the development of brain tumors is gaining increasing popularity. Can these stem cells be used to treat cancers?

Opening Discussion Questions:

What are stem cells?
What have you heard about cancer stem cells?

LECTURE OUTLINE

What is a stem cell?

Different types
Tissue specificity

What about cancer stem cells? A focus on brain tumors.

Are they present or recruited?
Are they normal or changed cells?
Controversy

The Cutting Edge :

Normal stem cells home in on cancer cells to help tumors grow
Endothelial Progenitor Cells
Using stem cell migration to kill cancer
Use of neural stem cells to attack brain tumors
Cancer associated fibroblasts

LECTURE 6: CAN BACTERIA BEAT CANCER?

The “Original observation of patients’ spontaneous recovery from advanced tumours after an infection or a “fever” inspired extensive research. As a result, Coley’s toxin for the therapy of sarcomas and live Bacillus Calmette–Guerin (BCG) for bladder cancer were born. In addition, three genera of anaerobic bacteria have been shown to specifically and preferentially target solid tumours and cause significant tumour lyses. Initial research had focused on determining the best tumour colonizing bacteria, and assessing the therapeutic efficacy of different strategies either as a single or combination treatment modalities. However, although clinical trials were carried out as early as the 1960s, lack of complete tumour lyses with injection of Clostridial spores had limited their further use. Recent progress in the field has highlighted the rapid development of new tools for genetic manipulation of Clostridia”.
Cancer Letters 259(1), 16-27 (2008)

Opening Discussion Questions:

Do bacteria always make you sick?
Do you know anything about bacteria and how they relate to cancer?
Can you imagine how might bacteria be used to treat cancer?

LECTURE OUTLINE

Anaerobic vs. Aerobic Bacteria

Bacteria and Disease:

Ulcers and H. Pylori
Necrotizing fasciitis
E. coli
Clostridium
Bifidobacterium longum

Bacterial Links to Cancer

The Cutting Edge:

Bacteria home to tumors
Improve the immune response to cancer
Improve therapeutic efficacy
Drug delivery vehicles


What about cancer stem cells? A focus on brain tumors:

Are they present or recruited?
Are they normal or changed cells?
Controversy

The Cutting Edge:

Normal stem cells home in on cancer cells to help tumors grow
Endothelial Progenitor Cells
Using stem cell migration to kill cancer
Use of neural stem cells to attack brain tumors
Cancer associated fibroblasts