Management in biomedical science (LEI105F)

Items for discussions are:

Quality management in health services, including concepts like accreditation, certification, quality standards and quality manuals.

Safety management, including safety of the work environment, and data safety
Environmental management according to ISO 14000
Knowledge management and information systems
Change management
Project management
Financial management
Human resource management

Practical Bioinformatics (LEI106F)

Basic concepts in bioinformatics will be covered and the main databases for DNA/RNA and amino acid sequences introduced. Different methods of bioinformatics will be discussed such as sequence comparison and searches in protein and DNA/RNA databases. An introduction will be given to sequence comparison and evolutionary biology. An emphasis will be put on students knowing and being able to use the main protein/DNA databases. Also, there will be an introduction to computer programs used in bioinformatics work.

Teaching will take place with lectures and practical problem solving. The course is designed to be practical; assignments must be finished throughout the semester and will thus require the active participation of the student.

Seminar in Biomedical Science (LEI112F)

Students and teachers lecture on and discuss interesting research.

Lectures are given by students and teachers. Conference on research in Biomedical Science. Attendance is compulsory and active participation in discussions is required.

Biostatistics I (LÝÐ105F)

This course is an introduction to statistics in the life sciences. The course covers the following topics. Types of data: categorical data, count data, data on continuous variables. Descriptive statistics; numerical statistics and statistical graphs. Probability distributions, the binomial distribution, the Poisson distribution and the normal distribution. The definitions of a random sample and of a population. Sampling distributions. Confidence intervals and hypothesis testing. Comparison of means between groups. Statistical tests for frequency tables. Linear and logistic regression with ROC analysis. Survival analysis with the methods of Kaplan-Meier and Cox. The course is based on lectures and practical sessions in computer labs. In the practical sessions exercises are solved with the statistical software package R and the RStudio environment.

Interdisciplinary cooperation in health sciences (HVS501M)

The course (2 ECTS) is especially aimed at students who have completed at least three years of undergraduate studies in clinical disciplines within the field of health sciences. It is a prerequisite for the clinical course Interdisciplinary clinical cooperation: The HealthSquare (2 ECTS) (health care service for university students). The course is based on the theories of interprofessional education and various teaching strategies will be used in order to encourage active participation of students. Students will work together in interdisciplinary groups. The course is mainly focused on interdisciplinary theories, professionalism, interdisciplinary cooperation, team work and ethical decisions in health care.

Assessment (pass / fail) is based on  project work, activity in project work and exams that take place in electronic form in the teaching cycle. 

Teaching arrangements:
Students are divided into interdisciplinary study groups at the beginning of the semester that plan and execute their own meeting times and hand in their final assignments before the end of October. 

General research methods, course for M.Sc. and Ph.D. students - Part 1 (LÆK106F)

This course is taught as four independent modules, that the student should choose from based on their prior education and training and to best meet everyone´s educational goals. Successful completion of each module is awarded with 2 ECTS credits. M.Sc. student should at minimum choose three (6 ECTS) and Ph.D. students should at a minimum choose two modules (4 ECTS), and one of the modules chosen needs to be either module number 2 or 3.  The student is responsible to notify the course administrator about how many credits they intend to take and what modules before registration ends. Each module contains 3-4 lectures and a project.The modules are:

1. Article reading and data presentation
   1. How to read a paper and present your data
   2. Reference search and management (computer lab session)
   3. The scientific method
   4. ASSIGNMENT - Mini conference. Students will present their research project or paper (7 min)

2. Introduction to the scientific method

   1. Research ethics
   2. The philosophy of science
   3. Dishonesty in Science
   4. Quantitative & Qualitative Methods
   5. ASSIGNMENT – online project

3. Grant application, data collection and quality management
   1. Data handling and safety
   2. Permission applications/Research animals
   3. Quality management
   4. Grant applications
   5. ASSIGNMENT – preparation of grant application

4. Graduate student’s toolbox. This module is taught with the Center for graduate studies at their location in Setberg. This module is targeted towards graduate students (M.Sc./Ph.D.). The objective of the module is teaching graduate students transferable skills that can be applied to both academic research and research-oriented jobs
   1. Time Management
   2. Managing the Graduate Student - Advisor relationship
   3. Academic English
   4. Academic CV workshop
   5. ASSIGNMENT – Students write an academic CV in English.

General research methods, course for M.Sc. and Ph.D. students - Part 2 (LÆK0ALF)

This course is taught as four independent modules, that the student should choose from based on their prior education and training and to best meet everyone´s educational goals. Successful completion of each module is awarded with 2 ECTS credits. M.Sc. student should at minimum choose three (6 ECTS) and Ph.D. students should at a minimum choose two modules (4 ECTS), and one of the modules chosen needs to be either module number 2 or 3.  The student is responsible to notify the course administrator about how many credits they intend to take and what modules before registration ends. Each module contains 3-4 lectures and a project. A pass for each module is granted for 75% attendance (or watching lecture online) and the timely return of an assignment. The modules are:

1. Article reading and data presentation
   1. How to read a paper and present your data
   2. Reference search and management (computer lab session)
   3. The scientific method
   4. ASSIGNMENT - Mini conference. Students will present their research project or paper (7 min)

2. Introduction to the scientific method

   1. Research ethics
   2. The philosophy of science
   3. Dishonesty in Science
   4. Quantitative & Qualitative Methods
   5. ASSIGNMENT – online project

3. Grant application, data collection and quality management
   1. Data handling and safety
   2. Permission applications/Research animals
   3. Quality management
   4. Grant applications
   5. ASSIGNMENT – preparation of grant application

4. Graduate student’s toolbox. This module is taught with the Center for graduate studies at their location in Setberg. This module is targeted towards graduate students (M.Sc./Ph.D.). The objective of the module is teaching graduate students transferable skills that can be applied to both academic research and research-oriented jobs
   1. Time Management
   2. Managing the Graduate Student - Advisor relationship
   3. Academic English
   4. Academic CV workshop
   5. ASSIGNMENT – Students write an academic CV in English.

General research methods, course for M.Sc. and Ph.D. students - Part 3 (LÆK0AMF)

This course is taught as four independent modules, that the student should choose from based on their prior education and training and to best meet everyone´s educational goals. Successful completion of each module is awarded with 2 ECTS credits. M.Sc. student should at minimum choose three (6 ECTS) and Ph.D. students should at a minimum choose two modules (4 ECTS), and one of the modules chosen needs to be either module number 2 or 3.  The student is responsible to notify the course administrator about how many credits they intend to take and what modules before registration ends. Each module contains 3-4 lectures and a project. A pass for each module is granted for 75% attendance (or watching lecture online) and the timely return of an assignment. The modules are:

1. Article reading and data presentation
   1. How to read a paper and present your data
   2. Reference search and management (computer lab session)
   3. The scientific method
   4. ASSIGNMENT - Mini conference. Students will present their research project or paper (7 min)

2. Introduction to the scientific method

   1. Research ethics
   2. The philosophy of science
   3. Dishonesty in Science
   4. Quantitative & Qualitative Methods
   5. ASSIGNMENT – online project

3. Grant application, data collection and quality management
   1. Data handling and safety
   2. Permission applications/Research animals
   3. Quality management
   4. Grant applications
   5. ASSIGNMENT – preparation of grant application

4. Graduate student’s toolbox. This module is taught with the Center for graduate studies at their location in Setberg. This module is targeted towards graduate students (M.Sc./Ph.D.). The objective of the module is teaching graduate students transferable skills that can be applied to both academic research and research-oriented jobs
   1. Time Management
   2. Managing the Graduate Student - Advisor relationship
   3. Academic English
   4. Academic CV workshop
   5. ASSIGNMENT – Students write an academic CV in English.

Seminar in Biomedical Science (LEI210F)

Students and teachers lecture on and discuss interesting research.

Lectures are given by students and teachers. Conference on research in Biomedical Science. Attendance is compulsory and active participation in discussions is required.

Final paper in diploma studies on masters level in biomedical science (LEI208F)

The course is held in laboratories in biomedical sciences where the students specialise in a field of biomedical science by performing a research project. It depends on how many chose the same field and of the availability of student places at the laboratories whether all wishes can be met.

Methodology and background of specialised analyses in the relevant field will be discussed and the student will apply those to the final masters level research. Subjects are theoretical background, data handling, and scientific presentation.

Stem cells and differentiation (LÆK028F)

To introduce stem cell research to graduate students in the biomedical sciences, provide an overview of how stem cells can be applied for therapeutic use and to advance our understanding of tissue architecture and disease progression.

In this course we will discuss different stem cell systems and dissect the current knowledge of how these cells maintain self-renewal and/or proceed to differentiation. During the course students will gain insight into both embryonic and somatic stem cell research including hematopoietic, mesenchymal and various epithelial stem cell populations. Furthermore, we will discuss the therapeutic importance of various stem cells and discuss the link between stem cells and diseases such as cancer.

In each lecture one principal investigator (PI) will introduce a particular aspect of the stem cell field (35 min.). Afterwards, one student will present a research article related to that field and discuss how that particular study was conducted. In their presentations, the students need to: 1) Introduce the background of the research article and the history of the concept being investigated. The key here is to understand the reason for why the work was done and why it is important. 2) Describe the aim of the study and the experimental design (methods and material). 3) Discuss the major results/findings (figures and tables). 4) Summarize the context of the work and discuss major conclusions made by the authors. Present your own view, what is good and what is bad in the experimental design and results. Finally discuss future experiments that need to be or should be conducted. After the presentation all students will participate in active discussion. In addition to this, the students must select a couple of articles on a stem cell topic of their immediate interest and write a short report in english (4-6 pages). At the end of the course a seminar is scheduled where each student presents his/her report in short talk (7-10 min.).

Methods in immunology (LÆK071F)

A practical course introducing many commonly used methods in immunology. This will be a hands-on practical course conducted at the laboratory bench. Methods will include: Measurements of humoral immunity: ELISA, ELIspot, complement. Measurements of cellular immune responses: Flow cytometry, fluorescence microscopy, culture and stimulation of cells, measurements of cytokines (ELIspot, cytokine bead assay, cytokine secretion assay), cytotoxicity, chemotaxis, phagocytosis. Antibodies as research tools: Immunostaining (fluorescent and immunoperoxidase), ELISA. The course will take place mostly at Department of Immunology, Landspitali University Hospital. The course will be taught in English if necessary.

Practical sessions will be taught on saturdays or tuesday, wednesday and thursday between 16-21.

Biology of Cancer (LÆK092F)

The course will cover the biological basis of the development of cancer and its characteristics. Each topic will be reviewed first in a lecture and then discussed on the basis of a recent original research paper. Each will be introduced by one student and then discussed by the group. The papers will be distributed at the beginning of the course.

Topics: Introduction, carcinogens, oncogenes/tumour suppressor genes, TP53, stages of carcinogenesis, pre-malignangt lesions, cancer stem cells, animal models, chromosomal instability, genomic instability, evolution of cancer, epigenetics.

Course schedule: The course will consist of 12 double lessons, with a lecture in the first lesson and discussion of a paper in the second lesson.