Courses

The following courses are offered by the Department of Medical Parasitology Faculty:

Host Defense: Mechanisms and Therapeutics - Fall of each year
Allen Clarkson

This is a second year medical course aimed at guiding you to an understanding of the biomolecular origins, etiologies and appropriate treatment strategies for infectious and non-infectious disease. The course will emphasize the essential importance of problem solving and the utility of evidence-based medicine and will introduce the principles for appropriate utilization of the clinical laboratory in the diagnosis and management of human disease.

Science Selective: Science behind infectious disease - Summer 2009
Jayne Raper, Guillermo Perez Perez, Vinh Philip Pham

Course syllabus

This is a scientific foray into infectious diseases that you will encounter during your career. We will cover pathogens and their diseases that fall into the broad categories of parasite, fungi, bacteria and virus. We will alternate student presentations (the class will be divided into four groups), with outside speakers. Each student group will be given a research paper (animal model of disease or clinical trial); they should introduce the topic and use the data to meld the science with the disease. An outside speaker who will focus on one pathogen, related to the topic, will follow each student group session-they may designate a paper to read as background. Active discussion is strongly encouraged.

G16.2010 Molecular Parasitology
Jane Carlton and Ana Rodriguez
http://www.med.nyu.edu/sackler/courses/fall07/courselist.html#2010

The Molecular Parasitology course provides an in-depth analysis of the cellular, immunological, molecular and genetic mechanisms in parasite biology and parasite-host interactions. Topics include mechanisms of host cell invasion, host innate and adaptative immune response, parasite genome structure and expression, antigenic variability, immune evasion, vaccine design, epidemiology, genetics, genomics and vector-parasite interactions.

The course covers a variety of parasites and their insect vectors. Protozoan (Plasmodium, Leishmania, Trypanosoma, Toxoplasma, Entamoeba, Trichomonas) and metazoan (Schistosoma, Trichinella) parasites which cause disease in humans are studied.

G16.2616 Introduction to Parasitology
Photini Sinnis
Offered Fall semester on alternate years
http://www.med.nyu.edu/sackler/courses/fall08/courselist.html

Course Syllabus

This course is an introduction to the range of eukaryotic organisms that cause disease in humans. We will cover medically important helminthes, protozoans and arthropods. The latter will be covered as both agents and vectors of human disease. For each pathogen we will learn its life history, epidemiology, clinical features of the disease it causes and pathogenesis. In addition there will be lectures on parasites and global public health, parasite genomics, vaccines for parasitic infections and drugs for parasitic infections. We will also cover the basic principles of laboratory diagnosis and treatment. In the laboratory sessions students will look at prepared slides, make wet mounts of live parasites and learn to prepare thick and thin blood films for diagnosis of malaria. At the end of the course, students will work on group projects in which they will learn about and present a research topic that is of interest to them.

G16.3711 Parasitology Seminar Series
Don Chen and Alida Coppi

Seminar Schedule

U10.2410.001 Global Burden of Infectious Diseases (Master's Program in Global Public Health)
Cross-listed with Sackler as G16.2410
Karen Day

Course Syllabus

Infectious diseases, especially HIV, TB, malaria and acute respiratory infections (ARI) contribute substantially to the global burden of disease. This course will focus on the biology, epidemiology and control of these infectious diseases. There will be a focus on the translation of epidemiological findings into policy and practice with emphasis on review of key publications in this field. This is essential training for practitioners of global public health.  

U10.2420.001 Genetic Epidemiology (Master's Program in Global Public Health)
Cross-listed with Sackler as G16.2420
Karen Day

Course Syllabus

This course will examine the impact of genetic diversity on global health. It will provide the training to allow an investigator to explore why we are not equally susceptible to the same diseases and to incorporate genetics into epidemiologic analyses. Its aim is to provide the necessary background in genomics, bioinformatics and population genetics to practice genetic epidemiology. The course will teach basics in genomics and bioinformatics to utilize both pathogen and human genome diversity data. The principles of population genetics will be taught in the context of epidemiological analyses. Epidemiologic designs and statistical methods required for linkage studies and mapping genetic traits (both simple and complex) will be defined. 

U10.2440.001 Emerging Disease and Bioterrorism (Master's Program in Global Public Health)
Cross-listed with Sackler as G16.2440
Karen Day

Course Syllabus

The emergence of new pathogens and drug resistance, as well as increased transmission opportunities caused by human migration, political instability and breakdown of healthcare infrastructure, has led to a rising prevalence of infectious disease. This course aims to provide training in the biology, epidemiology and control of emerging diseases. It will provide the necessary skills to analyze the interplay between human host and pathogen in both evolutionary ecology and statistical epidemiology frameworks. There will be a discussion of "Darwinian Medicine." Specific bioterrorism pathogens will be discussed, as well as methods of identification and predictive modeling of a bioterrorism incident.

In addition to lectures, class time will include practical data handling. Discussion of both methodological and substantive epidemiology papers from the recent literature will be led by the students.

U10.2450.001 Advanced Epidemiology (Master's Program in Global Public Health)
Cross-listed with Sackler as G16.2450
Florence Bodeau-Livinec

Course Syllabus

The objective of the course is to develop an understanding of and familiarity with epidemiologic concepts and methods. The following lectures will be taught: causality, disease frequeny, association, the different types of study designs, bias, counfounding, interaction, multivariate analysis, error measurement and clinical trials.  In addition to lectures, lab sessions will include analysis with programs on computer using EPIINFO and SPSS and discussions of methodological issues.