This course will focus on the molecular mechanisms by which fundamental cellular processes are disrupted in the development of cancer.

This course is designed for advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate students with a particular interest in infectious disease biology. Note that this course is not a comprehensive survey of the field and is not appropriate for students seeking a lecture course on disease. The primary objective of this course is to teach students considering a career in the biomedical sciences how to read, discuss, and question research papers effectively. Intensive classroom discussions focus on the experimental methods used, results obtained, interpretation of these results in the context of pathogen interactions with host cells and organisms, and implications for basic research and therapeutic development.

This course is designed for students who are interested in understanding how physiological functions are achieved. Taking advantage of the recent explosion in genetic data and high-resolution protein structure analysis across organisms, the course focuses on the evolution of physiological functions at the genetic, structural, circuit and organismal levels. Examples include the co-evolution of toxins and toxin resistance between hunter and prey, the evolution of substance transport across cell membranes, intracellular signaling cascades, intercellular communication, distributed and centralized nervous systems, neural circuits controlling physiological functions such as feeding, locomotion and visual information processing. Students are expected to learn 1) basic physiological processes, their origin and adaptation, 2) modern genetic, structural and physiological techniques, 3) to critically evaluate research findings, 4) to present scientific papers, and 5) to write a research report.

The course will focus on muscle function from the level of molecules to whole animal locomotion. At each level of organization, muscle function will be explored from mechanical and energetic viewpoints. The course will include lectures, demonstrations, and several guest expert lectures. Students will also be introduced to realistic musculo-skeletal modelling and forward dynamic simulations to explore integrated function.

Animals display extraordinary diversity in their morphology, physiology, and behavior. Traditionally, these topics have been mostly studied from an ecological perspective. This course will focus on recent advances and discoveries that address the underlying biological mechanisms of animal diversity. Specific topics will include the genetic, molecular, and developmental basis of animal morphological diversity, and genetic, molecular, and neural basis of animal behavioral diversity. Students will gain an understanding of how animal diversity is encoded at the different levels of biological organization. The course will be comprised of lectures to introduce topics, discussion of primary literature, and in-class activities.

Early development of microbiology, pathology, and immunobiology; molecular and cellular bases of immune phenomena including: immunity to pathogens, immune diseases, autoimmunity, and hypersensitivity. This course is open to students in the College of Liberal and Professional Studies only.

A fundamental goal of neuroscience is to understand how neural circuits in the brain function to influence behavior. The aim of this course is to highlight the neural basis of behavior and discuss modern approaches and novel methods to study the neuronal control of classically studied aspects of behavior. Through a combination of discussions, student presentations, and interactive lectures, we will explore the neural systems that regulate the interactions an animal has with the external world. We will explore sensory systems (such as vision, taste, and olfaction), motor systems, and survival behaviors (such as feeding, drinking, mating, and aggression). The course evaluation will be based largely on written work, participation, and presentations.

The importance of microbiology in complex issues, such as the impact of the microbiome in human health or as alternative energy sources, is being appreciated more and more each day. This upper level laboratory course provides students with a robust technical skill set while also giving them an opportunity to participate in an authentic research project that may lead to novel discoveries. Students will generate research questions, formulate hypotheses, design experiments, analyze data, and present their research findings to the class. In each project, students will use the cutting edge approach of metagenomics to evaluate the microbial diversity of their environment via Next Generation Sequencing. Students will also examine the function of microbial species within their communities. Potential projects include the isolation of novel antibiotic producers and the antibiotic they produce, designing and optimizing microbial fuel cells that can be used to generate electricity, or isolating antibiotic resistant bacteria and attempting novel approaches to inhibit or prevent their growth.

The course will examine major sources of energy on earth: sunlight, mechanical, chemical and biological, and how this energy is transformed into useful energy for humans -- typically electrical energy, heat, mechanical power or food. Considerable emphasis will be on forms of regenerative energy that can be used when living off-the-grid. As a case study, we will examine some approaches taken by the US military to provide energy capability for dismounted Marines operating on foot in austere environments. Faculty lectures will be supplemented by guest lectures from leaders in various areas of science. A major goal of the course is for students to develop an awareness of the amounts of energy they use in their daily lives, and how they might reduce them. As an exercise, students will measure how much energy their smart phones and laptops use in a day and try to generate a comparable amount of energy through physical effort. The course will include lectures, discussion, guest expert lectures, and laboratory measurements.

In this course we explore the genetic basis of adaptation. We will investigate the forces that drive adaptation (e.g., environmental stress, pathogens, conflict, sex), the genetic mechanisms of adaptation (protein sequence changes, expression divergence, gene duplication, etc.), and the consequences of adaptation for contemporary cellular functions, developmental processes, and ecological interactions. The class meetings will be structured around both lectures and student-led discussions of the primary literature.