Cardiovascular Research Education Certificate (CVRC)

8 course credit hours, plus a research experience equivalent to 3 credit hours (12 credits total)

• 8 credit hours of required courses
• 4 additional credit hours from the elective list
• Participation in the Frontiers in Cardiovascular Science Seminar Series (Weekly, Mondays)
• 3 credits of basic/translational research experience (must be approved by admissions committee; requires co-mentor). You must submit a summary of the results of your research project to complete the certificate prior to your graduation.

• Phrmacol 710 – Cardiovascular Pharmacology (4 credits of this course consisting of rotating topics in Pharmacology with each topic fulfilling 1 credit)
• Phrmacol 640 - Introduction to Translational Science (2 credits)
• Physiol 616 – Cardiac Arrhythmias and Cardiac Channelopathies (2 credits)
• Participation in the Frontiers in Cardiovascular Science Seminar Series (Weekly, Mondays)

• BA 518 – Business of Biology (2.25 credits)
• Bioinfo 525 – Foundations of Bioinformatics (1–3 credits)
• Biostat 501 – Introduction to Biostatistics (4 credits)
• BIOMEDE 510 – Medical Imaging Laboratory (3 credits)
• BIOMEDE 516 (ECE 516) – Medical Imaging Systems (3 credits)
• BIOMEDE 519 (PHYSIOL 519) – Quantitative Physiology (4 credits)
• EPID 600 – Introduction to Epidemiology (3 credits)
• HG 545 – Molecular, Cellular, and Organismal Genetics (3 credits)
• Pharmacology 502 – Introduction to Scientific Communication (3 credits)
• PharmSci 706 - Biologic Products: Recombinant Proteins, Cell Therapies and Biosimilars
• PIBS 503 – Research Responsibility / Responsible Conduct of Research (1 credit)
• Physiology 512 – Cardiovascular, Pulmonary and Renal Physiology (1 credit)
• Physiology 519 – Computational Systems Biology of Digestive and Metabolic Diseases (2 credits)
• Physiology 578 – Cellular Physiology
• Physiology 610 – Pathophysiology and Translational Physiology
• Physiology 822 – Animal Models in Biomedical Research (2 credits)

The course is cross-listed in the Ross School of Business and the UM School of Public Health. Taught by various faculty in the medical school and the Ross School. In the wake of the revolutions in genetics, genomics, and proteomics, scientists at the Life Sciences Institute are aiming for collaborative insights into the complexity of life at the genetic, molecular, and cellular levels. But scientific advances, standing alone, are not enough. The question is: "How will advances in the life sciences improve our health, well-being and happiness, and thus transform our world?" In searching for answers, the Life Sciences Institute sponsors a graduate course entitled The Business of Biology. The course, launched in 2004, provides a "helicopter view" of the dynamic developments in the life sciences and healthcare and how they might change our world. It features guest lecturers from the schools of Law, Medicine, and Public Health as well as distinguished executives from the worlds of biotechnology, finance, and health care. The course is open to graduate students across the campus. They come from a broad array of disciplines, including biological chemistry, business, engineering, health services administration, chemistry, neuroscience, pharmacology and pharmacy. The course surveys the interactive effects of discoveries in the life sciences, advances in medical and information technology, emerging new consumerism, and how these developments are changing business and industry, medicine, and health. The course also grapples with the complex ethical and legal issues that face individuals and society in the wake of these changes. During the term, students work in cross-disciplinary groups on selected projects which they present in a final colloquium which is open to the campus. This is a 2.25 credit hour course.

This course is an introduction to statistics and bioinformatic tools on the web for students interested in using web-based applications and browsers. The course is comprised of three topics modules. Each module consists of one lecture and one lab. This course is ideal for first year PIBS students or second year students with little experience in Bioinformatics. It is also intended for students and post-docs on biomedical training grants. Topics modules are: Bioinformatics on the web, Introduction to statistics, *Bioinformatics and systems biology. This is a 1-3 credit course depending upon the modules taken.

Fundamental statistical concepts related to the practice of public health: Descriptive statistics, Probability, Sampling, Statistical distributions, Estimation, Hypothesis testing, Chi-square tests, Simple and multiple linear regression, One-way ANOVA. Use of computers in statistical analysis. This is a 4-credit course meeting, M, W, 8-10 AM.

Advisory Prerequisite: None. Enforced Prerequisite: BIOMEDE 516 or permission of instructor. Minimum grade requirement of “B” for enforced prerequisite. (3 credits) This course provides the student practical, hands-on experience with research grade, medical imaging systems including x-ray, magnetic resonance, nuclear medicine, and ultrasound. Participants rotate through each of the respective areas and learn about and perform experiments to support previous theoretical instruction.

Advisory Prerequisite: EECS 351. Enforced Prerequisite: None. (3 credits)

Principles of modern medical imaging systems. For each modality the basic physics is described, leading to a systems model of the imager. Fundamental similarities between the imaging equations of different modalities will be stressed. Modalities covered include radiography, x-ray computed tomography (CT), NMR imaging (MRI) and real-time ultrasound.

Advisory Prerequisite: BIOLCHEM 310. Enforced Prerequisite: None. (4 credits)

This course provides learning opportunities for graduate students to understand and develop competencies in a quantitative, research-oriented, systems and approach to physiology. Systems examined include: musculoskeletal; cardiovascular; respiratory, endocrine; gastrointestinal; and renal. Mathematical models and engineering analyses are used to describe system performance where applicable.

This course will be of interest to certificate program students because it emphasizes how basic science research discoveries are translated into new therapeutics for clinical applications. The course is offered by the UM Cellular Biotechnology Training Program (http://cbtp.umich.edu/), an interdisciplinary training program funded by the NIH that involves participation with key industry partners at many levels of the training, including in the teaching of this course. Topics in recent years have included: (1) Drug discovery, (2) Stem cells and stem cell therapy, (3) Gene therapy, (4) imaging, (5) Biomaterials and tissue engineering, (6) Nanoscale manipulation. Students participate in a team-based approach to proposal development for biotechnology-related problem solving. This is a 3-credit course.

This course will be divided into three primary sections. The first section will serve as an introduction to the basic principles of epidemiology and the measures used in epidemiology. The second will discuss epidemiologic study design (including case- control, cohort studies) and analysis (including bias, confounding, effect modification) and the third section will cover special topics that are important to an introductory understanding of epidemiology (including outbreak investigations, clinical trials, screening, and the role of epidemiology in public health). This is a 3-credit course with one lecture per week.

The course covers the molecular basis of the organization, expression, and transmittance of genetic information. Using research literature, students will develop a modern understanding of major concepts in genetics: (1) how genetic information is transmitted through mitosis and meiosis; (2) how genetic information is organized in genomes; (3) how information is impacted by mutagenesis and repair; and, (4) how genes are functionally expressed to generate phenotypes. Students will learn the core concepts that underlie the investigation of molecular, cellular, and organismal genetics. As a graduate level course, students are expected to enter HUMGEN 545 with an advanced understanding of the nature of biological systems, genetic information inheritance, and the processes of nucleic acid maintenance, replication, and transcription. The class will use experimental research in model systems and humans to understand the scientific processes that have uncovered the transmission and encoding of genetic information, as well as exposing the gaps in current understanding. We will emphasize comprehending primary research strategies and experimental design, including: (i) developing hypotheses; (ii) building strong experimental rationale; (iii) explaining expected results; and, (iv) understanding the limitations of experimental systems. The course includes recent genome-wide analysis strategies that are dramatically changing how we investigate phenotypes. Students will learn the foundational laboratory and analytical strategies used in modern genetics. Upon completion of HUMGEN 545, students will understand current research directions and experimental strategies across diverse areas of genetics. Instructor approval is required for enrollment in this course.

This course introduces graduate students to essential scientific communication skills: beginning with the relatively easy task of learning to search the literature over the internet and ending with the challenges of writing a NRSA grant application and giving a short seminar. Each student will develop confidence in both written and spoken scientific communication. Class meetings alternate between presentations by local experts on various topics and student presentations of their work in progress. In-depth analysis of student writing and presentation skills will be provided in class by the instructor, by other students working in small groups, as well as by guest scientists. Through a series of assignments, each student will write a grant over the course of the semester on a topic of his or her choice. By the end of the term each student will have polished and revised the proposal to a high quality product which will be presented both orally and in written form to the rest of the class. Finally, each student will participate in a mock study section to constructively evaluate each other's grants. This is a 2-credit course with one lecture (Wed 1-3 pm) per week.

This course utilizes an integrated approach to teaching research responsibility and ethics composed of self-paced online case studies and lectures as well as live small group discussions. Course materials including case studies and podcast lectures are available online through CTools, and discussion will take place in small-group sessions offered at many different times throughout the semester. Topics covered in this course include: (1) Fraud, fabrication, and plagiarism; (2) Data storage and ownership and peer review; (3) Animal use and care; (4) Human subjects research and IRBs; (5) Conflict of interest; (6) Research in the global workplace; and (7) Dual use issues. Participants must also engage their PI in a discussion of ethical practices particular to their laboratory. This is a 1-credit course.

This is an overview mini-course of physiology in these organ systems. It is one of 3 modules in Physiology 510 that cover all organ systems. 1 credit

This course provides an introduction to the basic biological principles of digestive and metabolic diseases and the currently employed strategies to investigate these diseases with computational modeling. The curriculum is designed to attract students in engineering, informatics, computer science and physiology into digestive and metabolic disease-related research and ultimately NIDDK research careers. The goals of the course are to: Introduce basic concepts of dynamical systems for the modeling of physiological processes; Present the physiological concepts underlying the digestive organs, diseases or processes under discussion in each lecture; Discuss strategies for translating the physiological problem into a model; Introduce standard approaches for analyzing computational models with mathematical software tools (for example, Maple); Close each lecture with a highlight of current direction of research, with emphasis in computational systems biology. We will also provide a list of UM investigators who are actively involved in research pertaining to the lecture topic and implement the tools learned during the initial 12 weeks to develop context models pertaining to digestion health/disease issues and metabolism. The last two weeks of the course will focus on the development of a final research project consisting of model development and analysis. This course is a bridge that brings physiology and computation-oriented students to digestive and metabolic disease related research. The course will be held in the Center for Computational Medicine & Bioinformatics. This center has been highly successful in fostering new collaborations across departmental lines at the UM. The center has state-of-the-art classrooms with audiovisual equipment, slide projectors, DVR, and capacity for video streaming on the web. It also contains computer classroom labs for model development, implementation, and analysis. This is a 2-credit course.

This course will teach the mechanisms that underlie cell functions including homeostasis, membrane excitability, intracellular signaling, and secreted messengers. These topics will serve as the basis for understanding physiological functions including synaptic communication, sensory systems, metabolic regulation, and circadian rhythms. Experimental design and methods will be integrated throughout the course.

This masters student course focuses on (1) understanding how altered structure and function link to the onset and progression of disease and (2) considering the translation of information between bench and bedside. Students will investigate a translational research topic of their choice and deliver an oral presentation to the class near the end of the term.

This is a class in Preclinical Animal Phenotyping (all in the cardiovascular domain). It is mostly hands on training in phenotyping via the Phenotyping Core. 2 credits.