Health Sciences

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale program. The course is intended for advanced level students only. Enrollment is by consent of the instructor. This course identifies the major categories of inherited diseases, the genetic mechanisms contributing to disease etiology, and their inheritance patterns. The course describes strategies to identify the genetic causes of inherited diseases. The course discusses the use of genomic data and technology in the management of inherited diseases and innovations in human genomic research and their applications in medicine. The course evaluates research articles pertinent to medical genomics. The course discusses topics including sequencing the human genome; medical genetics; identification of disease genes; Mendelian diseases; chromosomal diseases; multifactorial diseases; and pharmacogenomics and personalized medicine. Students design and perform experiments of molecular genetics, including PCR and direct sequencing using Sanger method, and evaluate the presence of variations/mutations in human DNA and their role in Mendelian disorders. The course is divided in two parts: a wet-lab course, where the students prepare PCR and sequencing reactions, and a part using informatics tools, including public programs and databases, in order to analyze the obtained sequences and evaluate the presence of variants/mutations and determine their possible pathogenicity.

The course focuses on the different factors underlying consumers’ food behaviors. Centrally in the course are theories on determinants of food consumption, strategies to change behavior, and social significance and meaning of food. Social, cultural, cognitive, developmental, psychophysiological and neuroeconomic approaches as well as theory of human action and of decision making processes are discussed.

This course introduces Chinese dietetic culture, traditional Chinese medicine and medicated diet in its background, and guides students to understand the concept and practice of traditional Chinese medicine. Students examine this practice for health preservation, so as to establish a correct and healthy diet and life concept, to explore and identify different health theories and viewpoints, to lay a professional foundation for students’ healthy diet lifestyle, and to pass on and carry forward the splendid Chinese diet and medicinal diet culture. The course looks at the similar origins of medicine and food. It introduces the Chinese traditional culture embodied in daily diet activities. This course introduces the ups and downs of Yin and Yang in the natural world, and through understanding the big universe in the natural world to understand the small universe of the human body, to appreciate the charm of the idea of harmony between heaven and man, and to guide students to inherit and carry forward Chinese traditional culture.

The purpose of this course is to provide health and safety information using the latest scientific evidence. Health Sciences aims to equip students with the necessary knowledge to aim for good health in everyday life, as it reduces the risk of illness and injury during their studies at ICU.

The course presents the field of sustainable health and environment from an East Asian perspective in a globalized world. It covers facts and developments in issues related to sustainable health and environment through cross-country lectures, multimedia viewing, panel discussion, and group projects and presentations. The sciences of sustainable health and environment cover broad and intersected disciplines from health sciences, physical sciences to social sciences locally, regionally, and globally. Views of sustainable health and environment are cultivated from current and historical perspectives as well as local and regional living experience. Global perspectives are further cultivated through in-class discussion among students, group projects by cross-country teams, and essay writing. Guest lectures by distinguished experts in the fields of sustainable health and environmental sciences provide global perspectives on sustainable issues.

This course provides insight into the essentials of genetic and evolutionary models and their applications in biology, medicine, and psychology. It starts with the mechanisms that cause evolutionary change: natural selection, inheritance, and gene expression. In order to make these mechanisms understandable for students, the essentials of molecular, Mendel, and population genetics are discussed, followed by the evolution of life cycles, sex, and sexual selection. After discussing kin selection, this course uses genomic imprinting to explain genetic conflicts. Game theory is also used to explain the models that treat conflicts. The course finishes with the evolution of the human brain and the impact of evolutionary concepts in medicine. Introduction to Biology is a required prerequisite.