This course will provide fundamental knowledge in immunology as well as some advanced topics from cutting-edge research results, such as cancer immunotherapy and novel vaccine development. Immunity is the body’s system of protection from attack by pathogens such as bacteria and viruses. Immunology has a long history, and researchers around the world faced with the “enemies of human life” have solved numerous immunological mysteries, and contributed to a paradigm shift in immunology. Nonetheless, it is as yet unknown how certain diseases like AIDS, influenza and allergies can be completely conquered. The latest immunological research is revealing that immunity is also strongly correlated with an increasing number of other diseases such as cancer, arteriosclerosis and diabetes. If we could fully understand the mechanism of immunity, we should be able to treat such diseases. We would like to introduce basic knowledge of immunology revealed by past research and share our insights on the latest findings with you for the future development of immunology. During this course you will learn the mechanisms of the immune system and deepen your understanding of forefront immunology research and development of medical applications. We especially encourage young people who are interested in life-science and immunology to join this course, as it will assist consideration of immunology research as a career. The part one of the course consists of 5 lectures of about 90 minutes each. The first week covers introductory subjects and specific topics follow from the second week.

Do you want to broaden your knowledge on vaccinology or get a first well-balanced introduction to different aspects of the vaccine field? Then tune in for this MOOC! Do you know vaccines have proven to be one of the most powerful and effective ways of reducing morbidity and mortality and even eradicating diseases? Within this MOOC, we will elaborate on the burden of some infectious diseases. Besides the history of vaccines and the impact on mankind, a module will be dedicated to vaccine immunology. You will learn more about the different stages in vaccine development and the (sometimes) troublesome path to reach those most in need. Big steps forward have been made, but there are still challenges to tackle, including the recent vaccine hesitancy leading to a worrisome reduction in vaccination rates. A novel vaccine platform technology, named PLLAV (i.e. plasmid-launched live-attenuated viral vaccine) will be highlighted as well. This MOOC is aimed at all stakeholders in the vaccine field like students, parents, scientists, NGOs, politicians and many more.

Addiction is such a common problem today that people experiencing alcohol, nicotine or other drug problems present in many different healthcare settings. The challenge of linking people experiencing addiction to the right response is a serious one, and much depends on understanding addiction and recognising the role that we all play in the pathway to recovery. This course is intended to help you meet this challenge by increasing your understanding of the biology of addiction and the available treatment options in the different stages of the recovery journey. Key questions we will look at in this course include: When do we call “excessive use” addiction? Why is it so difficult to change addictive behaviour? Who can play a role to get people on the track to recovery? How do you respond to people with mild to moderate problems? How can you assess and increase motivation to change? What sort of interventions can support a person experiencing severe addiction? What is my role as a professional, either within or outside of addiction care? How can I identify the best of the many options available? What are hurdles to get the right support to manage addiction around the world? This course explores the “Recovery Pathway,” an easy-to-use framework for helping people with addiction move successfully from addiction to recovery. It helps plan a pathway through screening and assessment, to withdrawal and long-term relapse prevention. The course will examine a range of psychosocial interventions and medication-assisted treatments. You will review the biological basis of behaviour and treatment related to the stage of recovery, as well as evidence-based and service delivery considerations. This course is an ideal starting-point for healthcare professionals who want to get to grips with effective approaches to treating addiction.

How do we breathe? What is the purpose of our lungs? What is the link between oxygen and life ? These questions open a vast field of discovery to help us understand respiration. This course is for anyone who wants to understand human respiratory physiology, the operation of respiration and the lungs. Immersed in the heart of the university and hospital practice, you’ll learn from professors, health professionals, interns and medical students. Together we’ll discuss topics that are close to the world surrounding us: respiration during exercise, at high altitude, the role of air pollutants, asthma, and other important respiratory issues. During the course experts will discuss specific and practical topics such as how to comprehend oxygenation of a patient, why and when to administer oxygen, and what hyperventilation means. This course will also discuss in depth human anatomy, physical volumes and pressures of gasses, blood, oxygen, CO₂, lungs, tissues, smoking and chronic bronchitis.

Drug discovery is a challenging field, but the pathway most drugs navigate from concept to market is predictable and based upon repeated experimentation. The process requires scientists with expertise in chemistry, biology, and medicine. This course focuses on four aspects of drug development. regulation - approval protocols for government regulatory agencies pharmacodynamics - how a drug affects the body pharmacokinetics - how a drug flows through the body lead discovery/optimization - the steps for finding and improving molecules as potential drugs The course closes with two case studies of molecules that have advanced through the development process and into clinical trials.

Did you know that frailty can affect the quality of life of older people? Did you know that frailty can impose a burden on the significant others of older people? If you are a member of the general public and would like to know about the prevention of frailty and the promotion of healthy ageing, or if you are a healthcare professional who would like to provide the best care for older people and family members in order to combat frailty, this course is for you. The aim of this course is not only to provide theoretical knowledge about frailty, but also to give practical input to help our learners become familiar with frailty and how to manage it. Frailty is a common condition among older people. It is associated with ageing, which is a trend that is becoming a major concern around the globe. Frailty is not only costly in terms of medical expenses, but also imposes a mental and financial burden on the family members of older people with the condition. A person with frailty is also at an increased risk of disease, disability, and death. However, frailty is reversible. Preventing frailty is an important target in the promotion of healthy ageing. Apart from introducing concepts related to frailty, this course also provides some practical approaches to help individuals, including the older people themselves, caregivers, and healthcare professionals, to monitor and manage frailty in daily life. Short movies and videos are used for illustration. The techniques introduced in this course for managing frailty can be incorporated into daily life, making frailty easier to manage. This course is designed for anyone interested in the management of frailty. Taking this course will help you to manage the frailty and promote the health of older people around you.

During the five weeks of our course you will look into some of the most interesting and important areas of contemporary bioethics. This course, unlike other courses in bioethics, is primarily directed towards students reading biomedicine and not only medical educations leading to a certain profession, like physicians, nurses, physiotherapists etc. The latter students often have ethical codes specific to their profession. Moreover, much of their ethical training is about ethical problems that arise in the relationship between health care professional and patient. This course is directed to the students who have scientific biomedical training as their main focus. Such students often end up in development and research or at biomedical laboratories. However, they encounter ethical questions in their professional lives as well. Here are a few examples of the ethical questions that will be addressed during the course: How should we use animals or humans in biomedical research? For instance, what level of risk for harm is allowed? What are the rights of privacy or autonomy of patients or research subjects? How should we distribute the benefits and burdens of medical interventions locally and globally? What medical tests should healthcare offer? Are the certain tests, for instance genetic tests, that should not be offered at all? Who should get access to genetic information about an individual that results from a genetic test? Insurance companies? Employers? Researchers? Relatives? Should we use medical interventions only to cure disease or also to improve the functioning of already healthy individuals? In order to tackle these questions in a fruitful way, basic concepts and tools from ethics in general and bioethics in particular is an integral part of the course.

Musculoskeletal AnatomyX invites students to join medical and basic science faculty at Harvard Medical School (HMS) to learn about musculoskeletal injuries commonly seen in clinical practice. For each case, students visit the HMS Clinical Skills Center to observe the initial patient encounter and physical examination by an orthopedic surgeon. Following the patient encounter, students complete the interactive gross anatomy, histology and radiology learning sessions essential for understanding the case. The anatomy learning sessions include observing actual dissections in the Harvard Medical School anatomy laboratories revealing and explaining the human anatomy relevant for each clinical case. After completing the case learning sessions, students review pertinent radiology images, commit to a tentative diagnosis from a list of differential diagnoses, and accompany the patient to a virtual operating room to observe the surgical treatment. In the virtual operating room, students observe narrated videos of actual surgical procedures. Clinical content for each case is developed in close collaboration with leading orthopedic surgeons and radiologists at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. This course will take you inside the anatomy laboratories where students entering medicine, dental medicine, and other health professions study anatomy by performing anatomical dissections. Content includes videos, photographs, and other content, including anatomical images and videos showing cadaver dissection, that some people may find offensive, disturbing or inappropriate.

Brain and behavior are inextricably linked in neuroscience. The function of the brain is to govern behavior, and the aim of this course is to causally link biophysical mechanisms with simple behaviors studied in mice. The brain processes information through the concerted activity of many neurons, which communicate with each other through synapses organised in highly dynamic networks. The first goal of the course is to gain a detailed understanding of the structure and function of the fundamental building blocks of the mammalian brain, its synapses and neurons. The second goal is to understand neuronal networks, with specific emphasis on the interactions of excitatory glutamatergic and inhibitory GABAergic neurons. The third goal is to place neuronal network function in the context of sensory processing ultimately leading to behavioral decisions and motor output.

The real-life stroke scenario presented in ANA101x Human Anatomy has invited vigorous discussions on whether fully recovery from a severe stroke is possible and how it could happen. The knowledge of anatomy has arisen a series of queries on body functioning that are commonly implicated in stroke. An extension of human anatomy fundamentals towards functional anatomy has formed the basis of intervention approaches for functional recovery undertaken by different healthcare professionals, which is guiding the ultimate goals of post-stroke rehabilitation program for regaining independence and quality-of-life of the individuals. Therefore, this course is particularly designed to delineate the stroke recovery process and its underlying scientific rationales. Continuing using the same clinical case of Mr Law, this course walks you through the recovery journey, known as stroke care pathway involving multiple healthcare professionals to compose module ONE. In module TWO, intervention approaches practiced in key healthcare disciplines underpinned by the functional anatomy will be explored. Finally, the course knowledge will be assessed using an experiential approach using a set of mini case studies derived from the mainstream scenario of Mr Law.