Following is a list of potential courses at City of Hope's Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences.
CORE COURSES (Required)
Description: Topics covered include scientific misconduct, mentoring, peer review and publication, conflict of interest, intellectual property, animal research, human research, and embryonic stem cell research. The goals are to raise awareness of ethical issues, practice talking about ethical dilemmas, and identify institutional resources that can help scientists navigate complicated situations. Students meet campus experts on these subjects and discuss the real-life case studies. (Offered during first-year orientation).
Units: 3
Description: This is a semester long course that is team taught by faculty who specialize in their respective fields of interest. The course is designed for graduate students who are pursuing graduate research in molecular biology, biochemistry, and chemical biology. The course consists of fundamental topics that share a common theme of structure and function that include nucleic acids, amino acids, enzyme catalysis, protein structure and function, protein folding, carbohydrates, lipids and membranes, separations and biophysical methods of protein characterization.
Units: 3
Description: Principles of Gene Expression is a literature based introduction to the research that forms the foundation of Molecular Biology. Lectures are focused on one or two of the seminal papers that established a key concept in gene expression. Students are evaluated on their performance on homework, written exams and their participation in discussions during class.
Units: 3
Description: This course is divided into three sections: (i) cell structure, trafficking and interactions; (ii) signal transduction and cell metabolism; and (iii) system approaches towards development biology, stem cell biology, immunology and cancer. The lecture will provide exposure to background knowledge of current topics and contemporary experimental approaches regarding how cells work and how they are regulated.
Units: 3
Description: This course is divided into two sections. The biostatistics section introduces statistical concepts and methods for designing and drawing conclusions from studies subject to biological variation. In the bioinformatics section, students will be introduced to computational resources and computer hands-on experiences of software, database available to graduate and post-graduate level researchers as well essential bioinformatics concepts and applications for translational research.
Units: 3
Description: The main goals of this course are the development of the ability to read scientific journals proficiently, to think and write logically about experimental approaches to biological problems, and to successfully debate scientific issues with colleagues. The primary literature is the route by which professional scientists obtain information regarding their field of endeavor, and contribute to it. Therefore, graduate students must develop some mastery of the literature in their field before they can commence their studies. This represents one of the greatest barriers to transitioning from an undergraduate to a graduate student. The course consists of eight topics.
Units: 4
Description: This course will introduce genetic concepts that are at the core of modern Molecular Biology. They will be utilized by the students to investigate the genetic control of genome stability in the yeast model system. Laboratory instruction will provide a tangible demonstration of concepts that will be discussed concurrently in “Principles of Gene Expression”, the core course on Molecular Biology.
Units: 3
Description: The ability to write high-quality, professional manuscripts and grant proposals is a necessary skill for biomedical researchers. This course addresses fundamental topics in scientific writing, with a focus on manuscript and grant proposal development. The course incorporates lectures and writing assignments to help students gain writing skills that will assist them throughout their academic career in writing clear and concise grants, paper, reviews, etc.
Units: 3
ADVANCED TOPICS COURSES (two are required)
LABORATORY EDUCATION (Required)
Description: Each first-year graduate student is required to have a minimum of three lab rotations (fall, winter, spring). Rotations are graded Pass/Fail. The purposes of the rotations are to (1) help students find the research area and lab in which they want to conduct their thesis research, (2) learn experimental techniques, and (3) expose students to a broad range of intellectual and technical approaches to address current research challenges. Each lab rotation lasts for 10 to 12 weeks. Students are expected to spend a minimum of 20 to 25 hours per week in the lab, and student must submit a written report at the end of each rotation.
Units: 10
Description: Upon completion of the first year of graduate school, students are expected to conduct full-time, individual dissertation research under their chosen faculty mentor.
Units: 10
SEMINAR COURSES (Required)
Description: Every student after the first year is required to participate in a journal club, where members take turns presenting a current research article to the group. Participants must attend all seminars and make at least one presentation. General format involves one hour for a seminar and one hour for discussion. Graded Satisfactory (S) or No Credit (NC).
Units: 2
Description: The Leading-Edge Lectures is sponsored by the City of Hope Graduate School students. Each year the students select eight outstanding biomedical scientists to present a research seminar. Before each talk, the students and the faculty administrator will meet for a presentation and discussion session. Here the student sponsor and his or her team will summarize one or two of the most relevant articles by the invited scientist and lead a discussion of the techniques and data with the other students. Students will then attend the seminar and lead the question and answer session that follows.
Units: 2
