This course will provide students with a holistic understanding of the science of the body's Immune System (Immunology) and how the immune system causes Inflammatory Diseases such as Rheumatoid Arthritis, Asthma, Multiple Sclerosis and Cardiovascular Disease.

Full time, Semester 1 course comprising:

■ Workshops and lectures in general research skills (literature searching, critical analysis of the scientific literature, basic statistics, effective presentation and communication).

■ Immunology and inflammatory diseases: Lectures and workshops on basic immunological mechanisms in infection and inflammation, approaches to translate these mechanisms to develop improved treatments for inflammation, and clinical application of immunological expertise to diagnose and treat inflammatory disease.

■ Attendance at the British Society for Immunology Annual Congress: Lectures from the best international researchers in Immunology and Inflammation, structured feedback sessions and the opportunity to network with potential employers.

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■ Essay (Coursework: 50%): Students will research and write an essay of 3000 to 4000 words on a topic related to inflammatory disease. The essay will be based on a session at the BSI congress. 

■ Examination (50%): The students will sit a 2 hour Essay Examination and 1 hour Data Interpretation exam at the end of the course.

Specifically the course aims to provide

■ the opportunity to study the fundamental molecular and cellular processes involved in immune function through a critical analysis and synthesis of the current literature;

■ to equip students for a career in biomedical sciences, in particular inflammatory disease research.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

i) Relate the fundamental molecular and cellular processes to the generation of abberant immune responses in inflammatory diseases through a critical analysis and synthesis of the current literature;

ii) Critically analyse and summarise the literature on a specific scientific area of inflammatory disease and communicate this in an appropriate, scientific style using a range of software (e.g. Word, Reference Manager, Excel);

iii) Evaluate and analyse scientific data and present research findings in the form of a written laboratory report.

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.