Communicable and Non-Communicable Diseases

The objective of the course is to provide a specific knowledge and a critical evaluation on the pathological bases for precision medicine interventions. The overall learning objective is thus to provide an updated discussion of selected topics on precision medicine, which is notoriously a present and future important biomedical approach and includes relevant biotechnological aspects. The course includes two modules: Pathological bases for precision medicine interventions and Infectious diseases and drug resistance. In the first module, the following topics will be discussed: general principles of precision medicine, molecular determinants of individual health, precision medicine in oncology (molecular determinants, examples of precision medicine in oncology), precision medicine in cardiovascular and metabolic health, machine learning and artificial intelligence for precision medicine. In the second module, the following topics will be discussed: overview of human-microbe interactions, antimicrobial compounds: mechanism of action and resistance, identifying novel conventional targets for antimicrobial discovery, and non-conventional targets for novel generation of antimicrobial compounds, challenges in novel antimicrobial compound discovery.

At the end of the course, the students are expected to possess a solid knowledge and understanding on the pathological bases for precision medicine interventions. The acquired skills and competencies will be the tools through which the students will improve their capacity to correlate the different concepts in different areas of precision medicine, applying their skills to the comprehension of complex problems in this field. Moreover, they will be enabled to implement better judgment, communication skills and learning abilities in this complex scientific area, especially in relationship with topics relevant to biotechnology.