Translational medicine and biotechnologies 1

The course aims to apply a multidisciplinary approach to human health problems to transfer new findings from the basic sciences to clinical practice. The purpose of the course is to train students to familiarize themselves with methods, using an interdisciplinary approach, of biotechnology research with an impact on Human Health.

BLOCK 1: BIOTECHNOLOGY APPROACHES IN TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE
At the end of this course, the student will acquire knowledge on different biotechnological techniques used in both clinics and biomedical translational research.
BLOCK 2: CLINICAL BIOCHEMISTRY
Fundamental Knowledge: Develop a thorough understanding of the fundamental aspects of sample collection, proper storage techniques, and the role of biobanks.
Interpretation Skills:Acquire the skills to interpret reference values accurately.Understand and interpret the sensitivity and specificity of various diagnostic tests.
Point-of-Care Testing (POCT): Become confident and proficient in the use and interpretation of Point-of-Care Testing (POCT) devices.
Clinical Enzymology: Gain knowledge of the main enzymes quantified in clinical laboratories for the diagnosis of liver and cardiac disorders.
Protein Serum Profiles: Develop skills in interpreting protein serum profiles.
Iron Monitoring:Become skilled in interpreting tests required for iron monitoring in a clinical laboratory setting.
Hemoglobin Disorders: Acquire knowledge of the tests required for monitoring hemoglobin, porphyrins, hemoglobinopathies, and thalassemias.
Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM):Develop the ability to interpret therapeutic drug monitoring results effectively.
BLOCK 3: METHODOLOGY AND APPLICATION OF TRANSLATIONAL MICROBIOLOGY
Define correctly outbreak and cluster in bacterial surveillance
Describe the methodology and outcomes of phylogenetic studies in viruses and bacteria
Provide a proper characterization of microbiota
Illustrate the methodologies used in fast microbiology and their application in respiratory/gastrointestinal diseases and sepsis/septic shock
Illustrate the main applications of ultrasensitive methodologies in clinical microbiology
Be aware of the contribution of the microbiology lab to the diagnosis and management of bacterial infections.
BLOCK 4: HEALTH INFORMATICS
Recognise real-word scenarios where statistical and automatic learning tools can provide advantages for the analysis.
Recognise the difference between descriptive and predictive analysis.
Identify proper methods suited for specific research questions.
Compute statistical measures and implement simple statistical methods and prediction models.
Interpret the results of the statistical analysis/models respect to the input data and the modelling assumptions.
Identify and properly communicate results of the statistical analysis.
BLOCK 5: BASIC PRINCIPLES OF NGS AND SINGLE CELL ANALYSIS
Students will be able to;
Explain the principles and basic concepts of Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies.
Gain familiarity with single-cell analysis techniques, including single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) and single-cell ATAC-seq
Understand the importance of experimental design considerations in NGS and single-cell studies to address specific questions in biological research, precision medicine and clinical settings
Gain basic proficiency in analyzing NGS and single-cell sequencing data