The following courses have been developed or adapted for the UAB Hughes Med-Grad Fellowship. These courses are intended to reduce the intellectual distance between bench and bedside through instruction of medically-relevant, patient-oriented information by top physician-scientists. The didactic experience will provide a conduit for matching fellows with world-class mentors for thesis projects in contemporary disease-based research.
All UAB Hughes Med-Grad Scholars will matriculate through one of the existing interdisciplinary Ph.D. programs to fulfill their degree requirements.
Modeling Human Disease
A case-based, clinical pathological, conference-style course that will present relevant physical exam and laboratory data key to the diagnosis and clinical management of specific diseases. Fellows will team with mentors to present and discuss patients. A seminar will follow, led by a prominent researcher in the field, to highlight the molecular basis of the disease as well as the mechanism for diagnosis and treatment.
Phenotyping Human Disease
This course will cover disease processes, such as cancer metastasis, that will form the basis of modules for instruction in modern methodology (e.g., histological basis of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition, use of gene chips to identify global changes in gene expression, transgenic strategies targeting epithelial cells, introduction of imaging modalities to track metastatic cells, and visualizing lung/bone metastasis in human tissue).
Principles of Design, Conduct, and Analysis of Research
This practical course integrates basic science and clinical research methods from a bi-directional bench-to-bedside approach. Fellows will be equipped with tools and techniques needed to comprehend and critique research studies, with special emphasis on statistical tests and methods. The course also provides an intellectually broadening pedagogical experience by combining elements from many disciplines and introducing statistical concepts through real-life examples. ramifications.
Drug Discovery Research and Development Process
Fellows will gain an understanding of the modern drug discovery process, including the steps from identification of lead targets to completion of clinical trials required for FDA approval. This course challenges fellows to think about how the molecule or pathway identified in their research could be targeted and validated.
Logistic and Regulatory Issues in Clinical and Translational Science
HMG fellows wil become familiar with the principles and methods of clinical research and learn how to critically evaluate medical research literature and understand how clinical questions are framed, how studies are designed, and how knowledge is transferred to the bedside.
Hughes Med-Grad Summer Seminar Series/Journal Club
In order to promote student interaction and ongoing fellowship in the HMG Program, all students will participate in a Seminar Series/Journal Club each summer of their graduate training. This course will meet once per week during the summer and consist of guest speakers, student research presentations, and journal club presentations of current research topics.
