Immunology Program Course Requirements
COURSE TITLE CREDITS
Foundations of Biomedical Science (AM) 8
Foundations of Biomedical Science (PM) 4
Survival Skills, Ethics courses 1-2
Principles of Statistical Reasoning 2
Comprehensive Immunology 2
Experimental Basis of Immunology 2
Contemporary Topics in Immunology 4-6
Immunology and Human Disease 2
TA: Medical Microbiology 1 (each year)
Electives (at least two courses) 4-6 (or more)
32 (or more)
Students interested in the Immunology Program will typically take Comprehensive Immunology and Experimental Basis of Immunology in the Spring semester of their first year, along with one or two elective courses. In the Fall semester of their second year, Immunology students will begin taking Contemporary Topics in Immunology (which they will take for two to three years, depending on their course credit requirements) and may take an elective course(s) as needed or desired. In the Spring semester of their second year, Immunology students will take Immunology and Human Disease, and may take an elective course(s) as needed or desired. Electives appropriate for Immunology students include: “Immunology of Infectious Diseases” (offered by the MVM Program); “Vaccinology” (MVM Program); “Eukaryotic Molecular Genetics” (BMG Program); and “Molecular Mechanisms of Tissue Growth and Differentiation” (CMP Program). Students who do not take Immunology program courses in their first year can still join the Immunology program; they will take the above sequence of courses beginning in the Spring semester of their second year, and will therefore complete their electives before their required courses in most cases. MD/PhD students will be given credit for the Foundations of Biomedical Science lecture course.
Immunology Program Course Descriptions
MSIMM 2210 Comprehensive Immunology (2.0 Cr)
This is a second-tier lecture and discussion course that will introduce the students to the fundamental concepts of modern immunology. The course will cover cells, tissues and organs of the immune system. Furthermore, in depth analyses of the development, activation, effector functions, and regulation of immune response will be presented in this course.
MSIMM 2230 Experimental Basis of Immunology (2.0 Cr)
This is a second-tier course that will expose the students to classical and contemporary literature in modern immunology. Emphasis will be on paper analysis and critical evaluation of primary data. This course will parallel the topics presented in Comprehensive Immunology lecture course, which must be taken before or simultaneously with Experimental Basis of Immunology.
MSIMM 3220 Contemporary Topics in Immunology (1.0 Cr)
This is a third-tier course in which students will read, present, and evaluate the primary literature in immunology. Each semester will feature an integrated set of papers addressing a current issue of interest to modern immunologists. The course may be taken more than onc, since the topic addressed will change each semester. The prerequisite is Comprehensive Immunology or permission of the course director.
MSIMM 3230 Immunology and Human Disease (2.0 Cr)
This is a third-tier course that will apply modern immunological principles to develop our understanding of the causes or treatments of human disease. The course will consist of a series of lecture and discussion blocks. Background reading will be required and the course will rely heavily on the reading of original articles. Classes will regularly be devoted to paper discussions, and each student will be responsible for introducing one paper. The prerequisite is Comprehensive Immunology or permission of the course director.
Additional
Immunology program courses can and will be developed, as dictated by student
and faculty interests and needs.
Immunology Program Teaching Requirement
Teaching experience is an integral part of the training of each graduate student. This statement reflects the philosophy that effective graduate training should be comprehensive and include formal course work, independent research, and teaching experience. This curriculum best prepares students for careers in academia and industry where one is often involved in formal or informal teaching duties. Graduate students in the Immunology graduate program are assigned specific teaching assistant duties to fulfill the teaching requirement of the program.
All students in the Immunology program will be selected to teach each year beginning in their second year of graduate school. The timing of teaching assignments will be dependent on the scheduling of courses, but will usually require approximately 20-25 hours spread over the span of one month per year. Currently, Immunology program students participate in teaching medical students in a Medical Microbiology laboratory course setting.
Graduate students will not normally be required to teach during the academic year in which they plan to defend their dissertation. Other exemptions from teaching will normally not be considered or granted.
Additional Immunology Program Activities
The Immunology Journal Club, co-sponsored by the UPCI, benefits from graduate student, post-doctoral fellow, and faculty participation. This weekly meeting, in which participants discuss the background, data, interpretation, and relevance of selected current journal articles, allows students to develop essential critical reading habits as well as presentation and group leadership skills. In addition, students make important contacts with faculty and post-doctoral fellows from other program labs and disciplines.
The weekly Immunology Seminar series, also co-sponsored by the UPCI, allows graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, faculty, and guest speakers to present their most exciting current research results. Graduate students must present their research progress once each year after passing the Comprehensive Examination. Graduate students also meet with guest speakers at special lunches, so that the students can begin to form contacts for collaborations and future post-doctoral opportunities. Attendance each week is required for all Graduate Students.
Immunology Program Comprehensive Examination
Students enrolled in the Ph.D. program should take the Comprehensive Examination by the end of the second year, unless permission to extend the deadline is obtained from the Comprehensive Examination Committee. The Comprehensive Examination will be administered after the student has completed most of his/her course work, has decided on the general area of his/her thesis research, and has chosen a major advisor. Normally, the examination will be taken in the spring semester of student's second year.
The student will be required to submit a proposal in the format of a research grant to the Comprehensive Examination Committee chairperson, who shall establish a panel of faculty members to evaluate each student's proposal and to conduct an oral examination of the student if the written proposal is acceptable. NIH instructions for format of the written proposal should be followed. If the written proposal is deemed sufficient to proceed to the oral component of the exam by a simple majority vote of the panel, the student shall receive at least a one‑week notice of the oral defense date. The oral defense will typically take place within 3 to 4 weeks of submission of the sufficient written proposal. The oral exam is not to exceed two hours, and focuses on the student's understanding of both the contents of the research proposal and the basic concepts underlying the contents. The student is graded pass/fail, with a simple majority vote of the panel deciding the grade. In the event of a failure of the written and/or oral component of the exam, the student shall be given one opportunity to retake each failed component of the examination within two months of failure of the first exam. In the event that a students fails either component twice, the action of the faculty shall be dismissal of the student from the program or recommendation that the student transfer to the M.S. degree program, for the completion of his/her training.
Following completion of course work and passing the comprehensive examination, the student undertakes the steps required for advancement to candidacy for the Ph.D degree, outlined below.
Students should form a dissertation committee within one month of passing their Comprehensive Examination. The committee shall consist of at least five faculty members. The Dissertation Advisor is included in the committee and may act as Chair, although another faculty member may be designated Chair of the committee. The majority of the members must be from the Immunology program faculty, and the majority of the members must have Graduate Faculty status. At least one member must be from outside the Immunology program, and at least one of these outside members must have Graduate Faculty status. The student is not limited to faculty from the School of Medicine. The Director of the Immunology program will review the committee, sign the necessary forms and forward the completed documents to the Graduate Office and to the Immunology Program Administrator. Final approval of committee membership rests in the hands of the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies.
The thesis committee should meet within two months of formation. Prior to the meeting, a written thesis proposal should be provided to each committee member. At this meeting, the dissertation research project is presented in detail to the committee; if the committee approves the proposal, the student should make certain that all required graduate school forms are completed for advancement to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree.
Every time a thesis committee meets (including the first meeting), a brief report of this meeting, signed by both student and advisor, must be sent to all thesis committee members, and to the Immunology Program Administrator, so that this information can be included in the student’s academic file.
Following the initial thesis committee meeting, additional meetings must be held at six month intervals. The student must submit one week prior to the scheduled committee meeting a brief written summary of their research progress since the previous committee meeting.