Research Methodology

A.Y. 2024/2025
10
Max ECTS
80
Overall hours
SSD
BIO/11 ING-INF/05 M-FIL/03 MED/04 SECS-S/02
Language
Italian
Learning objectives
Use and apply the IT, epidemiological and statistical methods and tools to:
· Plan and carry out applied research in the field of technical health disciplines
· Provide teaching and training in the field of technical health disciplines
· Understand the competences related to the study of human behavior in its moral, ethical-social, political, communication ethics dimension. Understand the elaborations on the relationship between man and the environment and reflect on the ethical consequences that derive from the development of the sciences.
· Analyze the set of scientific fields and scientific-disciplinary skills related to the design and implementation of information processing systems, as well as to their management and use in various application contexts. This includes the theoretical foundations, the methods and the technologies used to produce technically valid projects, from the point of view of both the adequacy of the proposed solutions and the possibility of technical realization of both economic convenience and organizational effectiveness.
· Analyze the biological functions, biochemical and evolutionary characteristics of nucleic acids, and the biological functions they perform in all organisms.
Expected learning outcomes
"Students will be able to address and solve statistical problems and graph the results from measurements taken using the Microsoft Excel program.
Students will be able to possess the necessary knowledge to understand and describe the two main causes of human diseases: inflammation and tumors. They will also be able to describe the basic techniques for the molecular study of the pathologies considered.
Students will have basic knowledge of the main categories and problems of moral philosophy; knowledge of the fundamental principles of medical ethics; development of analytical and critical skills of the ethical problems related to medical professions.
The students will gain basic knowledge about the molecular mechanisms that govern the conservation and propagation of life, the selective use of the genetic information and about the related pathological implications.
Students will be able to understand basic epidemiological concepts regarding types of study, absolute and relative disease occurrence measures, systematic errors (biases, which affect validity) and random error (precision). Moreover, they will learn the main basic statistical techniques to assess diagnostic test quality.
"
Single course

This course can be attended as a single course.

Course syllabus and organization

Single session

Prerequisites for admission
Basics of mathematic and statistic, Biology, Histology, Human Anatomy, Biochemistry and Microbiology
Assessment methods and Criteria
Written and oral exam
Molecular biology
Course syllabus
Macromolecules of life and biochemistry basis
Structure of DNA, RNA and Proteins
Laboratory use of antibodies
Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)
DNA sequencing
DNA replication
DNA damage and repair mechanisms
Telomeres and cellular senescence
Transcription
Translation and the genetic code
Teaching methods
Frontal lessons. Slides made available to students on Ariel platform
Teaching Resources
Alberts: Biologia molecolare della cellula (ISBN: 9788808621269)
Information processing systems
Course syllabus
1) Introduction to the procedures based on hypothesis testing for quantitative or interval variables
2) Description of the sample using the sample mean and the sample variance
3) Description of the sample through the distribution and calculation of percentiles
4) Hypothesis test for the assessment of differences between groups: F-test
5) Homoscedasticity test
6) Hypothesis test for the evaluation of the differences between two groups: t-test for unpaired data
7) Use of the t-test to isolate differences between groups in multiple comparison problems
8) Hypothesis test for repeated measures: t-test for paired data
9) Hypothesis test based on the rank sum: the Mann-Whitney test
Teaching methods
The course is done in a classroom using computers using the Excel program (Microsoft). Each lesson has the structure of a practical training session: in each lesson one or more problems related to the various topics of the course are solved on the computer. Each practical training session is preceded by the projection of PowerPoint slides related to the theoretical topic of the session.
Teaching Resources
S.A. Glantz, Primer on Bio-Statistics, McGraw-Hill. 1997
Microsfot Excel Tutorial, Microsoft
Experimental medicine and pathophysiology
Course syllabus
Characteristics of the immune system
Acute inflammatory response
Systemic responses of acute inflammation
Chronic inflammatory response
Benign and malignant neoplastic disease
What is a clinical research project
Different types of clinical research projects
How to write a scientific article
Teaching methods
Frontal lessons. Presentations available uploaded to the Ariel platform.
Teaching Resources
Pontieri ELEMENTI di PATOLOGIA GENERALE Per i corsi di Laurea in Professioni Sanitarie Piccin
Rubin Patologia generale: l'essenziale Piccin
Cairo, Recalcati, Tacchini QUICK REVIEW: PATOLOGIA EdiSES
Moral philosophy
Course syllabus
Definition of "ethics"; Ethical theories; Moral codes and legal codes; Principles of medical ethics; Doctor-patient relationship; Relations with colleagues; Research Integrity and ethical committees; The argumention in ethics; What it means to do the right thing; Tragic choices and the concept of lesser evil; Right to health; Informed consent (details); Medical liability; Defensive medicine; Distribution of resources.
Teaching methods
Lectures with huge space for discussion. More the material available on Ariel platform.
Teaching Resources
C. Del Bò, Etica del turismo, Carocci, 2017, limitatamente al capitolo 2 (chaper 2 only)
Statistics for experimental and technological research
Course syllabus
Types of epidemiological studies
Study validity and precision
Measure of disease occurrence: prevalence, risk, incidence rate, odds
Measure of association/effect: relative (causality) and absolute (impact) measures
Clinical epidemiology. Diagnosis: sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, ROC curve
The cohort study
The case-control study
Teaching methods
Frontal lessons. Slides made available to students, but not on Ariel platform
Teaching Resources
Nessuno
Experimental medicine and pathophysiology
MED/04 - EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE AND PATHOPHYSIOLOGY - University credits: 2
Lessons: 16 hours
Information processing systems
ING-INF/05 - INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEMS - University credits: 2
Lessons: 16 hours
Molecular biology
BIO/11 - MOLECULAR BIOLOGY - University credits: 2
Lessons: 16 hours
Moral philosophy
M-FIL/03 - MORAL PHILOSOPHY - University credits: 2
Lessons: 16 hours
Statistics for experimental and technological research
SECS-S/02 - STATISTICS FOR EXPERIMENTAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL RESEARCH - University credits: 2
Lessons: 16 hours