Aims

To enable the student to engage in empirical research and interpretation of a selected topic relevant to their programme of study through the scholarly use of primary and other sources.

Module Content

The module offers students the opportunity to engage in extensive independent study with supervision from a tutor/s. Primary scientific sources should be used to a significant extent in addition to a thorough grounding in the secondary literature.

Students will be given an introduction to the Dissertation during the Professional Skills modules, where guidance will be given on procedures that need to be carried out before any data is collected, e.g. ethical permission and risk assessment.

In Level 6 a small number of lectures will take place during the module to advise on what is expected of students, how to present data and organise work. Students will mainly be prepared for the dissertation during modules in levels 4 and 5.

Module Aim

The aim of the module is to give students an appreciation of the specialist area of clinical immunology in the biomedical sciences. The module will encompass various aspects related to clinical immunology such as the immunological basis of systemic and organ specific disorders, clinical signs and symptoms, diagnosis and treatment.

Module Content

The module covers:

• Principles and practice of clinical immunology, screening and diagnostics.
• Immune diseases and their mechanisms, including systemic and organ specific disorders.
• Immunology of body systems, including neuroimmunology and pregnancy.
• Primary and secondary immunodeficiencies.
• Immunology of tumours and neoplastic diseases and Immunotherapy.
• Transplantation.
• Prevention and Therapy of Immunologic Diseases.

This module aims to introduce pharmacology students to the basic processes underlying drug discovery and drug design, from lead identification to drug optimisation including the role of genetics in these processes. The drug discovery section will provide the rationale behind drug discovery strategies, as well as elements of regulatory milestones. The drug design section will allow students to understand the key parameters that dictates the physicochemical properties and the mechanism of action of selected drugs. Moreover, students will be able to use modern tools in computer-aided drug design and optimise the structure of simple lead compounds.

Module content

• This module introduces students to the basic principles of drug discovery and design and assesses their knowledge in the application of these principles in the design and optimisation of these compounds. 
• Students will cover the history of drug discovery and the significant milestones. The module will also introduce students to the screening systems used in drug discovery. 
• The development from discovery through the bench to the bedside will also be elaborated upon and the module will delve further into the design of these compounds starting with the classic targets including proteins and the resultant effects on these targets. 
• The module will introduce students to molecular modelling and computer-aided drug design with newer drug delivery platforms and advanced therapies (pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics) being introduced to the students.

The module aims to:

• Provide an integrated treatment of the biochemical / molecular basis of signalling processes downstream of diverse extracellular stimuli,
• Emphasize signalling pathways which are mediated by cell-surface receptors.
• Provide an introduction to methodologies and data analysis of cell signalling experiments
• Develop skills in presenting data from research fields

Module content

• General principles of cell signalling: 
• Intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis
• Cross talk and transactivation of signalling pathways
• Signalling via nuclear receptors
• Properties of ion channels
• G-proteins and GPCRs interactions
• Receptors: protein structure
• Action of second messengers
• Genomic sequencing and analysis
• Mass spectrometry analysis

These general principles will be applied to various cell signalling pathways and their roles in disease.