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.

This curriculum has been developed from focus groups and interviews with non-physician healthcare professionals at one academic medical center. Most focus group participants worked in inpatient acute care: as such, the curriculum is focused primarily on acute inpatient care.

According to the Global Burden of Disease study, a large, collaborative study that assessed risk factors for death and disability for 187 countries from 1990 to 2010, the number one cause of death and disability in the United States, is our diet, followed by tobacco use. Smoking is responsible for approximately 450,000 deaths per year while diet, the Standard American Diet, is responsible for close to 700,000 deaths annually. Because chronic conditions like obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and many types of cancer are the result of inappropriate foods in the diet, by eliminating those inappropriate foods and replacing them with health-promoting foods, we are actually treating the cause of disease rather than just treating the symptoms. Not only can we prevent diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, oftentimes we can actually reverse the disease with a whole-food, plant-based diet. People can actually eradicate their diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure without pills or procedures but simply by changing what they’re putting in their mouths three times a day.

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.

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.

Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) is a critical tool in the fight against the global HIV epidemic.  With ART, antiretroviral drugs are used to suppress the HIV virus, stop the progression of the disease, and prevent onward transmission. In 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) updated their consolidated guidelines on the use of antiretroviral drugs in the fight against HIV. This course will equip health workers with the skills they need to use antiretroviral therapy for HIV treatment and prevention according to these updated clinical guidelines. Taught by clinical experts in HIV and global health, the course is self-directed to accommodate individual schedules.

Regardless of where physicians practice they are expected to be calm, cool, and collected when confronted with undifferentiated, critically ill patients. Medical education in most countries however, focuses on approaching patients in a methodical, time intensive manner. Although this approach can be effective for certain patients and settings, it can prove disastrous during those moments when time is of the essence. The specialty of Emergency Medicine (EM) centers on rapidly sorting, assessing, and stabilizing undifferentiated patients regardless of the etiology of their condition. Designed by educational leaders in the field of EM, this course is designed to teach healthcare providers the necessary skills to recognize and manage patients with life-threatening emergencies. “What Every Provider Should Know: Clinical Fundamentals” features high quality video lectures, online case scenarios with questions, a discussion forum, and the chance to demonstrate your knowledge by testing to achieve a statement of accomplishment. A detailed syllabus is provided, which focuses on the most clinically relevant information. Lectures and materials are all online allowing students the flexibility to proceed at their own pace and schedule. Case-based discussions are initiated with a video presentation of an undifferentiated patient. Key decisions and studies are highlighted and student responses may also be posted for other course participants and faculty to review. Video discussions of the online cases with an expert clinician provide practical answers and insightful commentary. Emphasis is placed on a methodical approach to patient evaluation and the importance of time-sensitive emergency interventions. Common medical myths and pitfalls are also addressed throughout the course. This course can easily be taught to individual providers, or arranged for groups of providers or students within their hospitals, medical schools or universities. Providers working together and taking the course as a group have the advantage of institutional support, and the chance to reinforce key concepts during their clinical practice.