Course Description
Provides information on the principles of fungal pathogenesis, diagnosis, and antifungal therapies, mechanisms of drug resistance, and relevant genetic and molecular tools to study human fungal pathogens and drug discovery. Provides basic training in reading scientific literature, presenting a talk on a research topic, and critiquing scientific reports.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Write a mini-review on a specific topic related to medical
mycology based on literature.
Athena Title
Medical Mycology
Undergraduate Pre or Corequisite
BIOL 1108 or BIOL 1108H
Semester Course Offered
Offered spring
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
This course is aimed at biologists, microbiologists, and students who want to pursue a career in healthcare or medically relevant research. The goal of this course is to provide information on the principles of fungal pathogenesis, diagnosis and antifungal therapies, and relevant genetic and molecular tools to study human fungal pathogens. This course will also give a basic training in reading scientific literature, presenting a scientific topic, and critiquing scientific reports. The course is a combination of lectures, student presentations, and written examinations.
Topical Outline
Introduction Lecture 1: What are fungi? Lecture 2: Why do we care about Medical Mycology? Overview of Fungal Diseases and Epidemiology Diagnosis and treatment of fungal infections Lecture 3: Diagnosis of Fungal Diseases Lecture 4: Current antifungal agents and therapies - Part I Lecture 5: Current antifungal agents and therapies - Part II Dermatomycoses: Symptoms and causative fungal agents Lecture 6: Superficial and cutaneous fungal infections: Ringworm, Dandruff, Pityriasis versicolor, Cutaneous candidiasis, Fusarium keratitis Lecture on how to read and critic scientific literature and how to prepare oral presentations. Give criteria for grading oral presentation. Presentation I on antifungal drugs The Subcutaneous Mycoses and causing fungal agents Lecture 7: Subcutaneous fungal infections: Sporotrichosis, Subcutaneous zygomycosis, Chromoblastomycosis, Lobomycosis Primary Systemic Mycoses Lecture 8: Histoplasmosis, Blastomycosis, Coccidioidomycosis Lecture 9: Host response, immunostimulation, and fungal vaccine Opportunistic Systemic Mycoses Lecture 10: Candidiasis Lecture 11: Cryptococcosis Lecture 12: Penicilliosis, Pneumocystis, Aspergillosis, Zygomycosis Lecture 13: Genetic and molecular biology tools to study fungal pathogenesis Presentation II on case studies, novel diagnosis or treatment (vaccine or new drugs etc.), or clinical trials Biochemical, genetic, and molecular biology tools to study human fungal pathogens Lecture 14: Genetic and molecular biology tools to study fungal pathogenesis Lecture 15: Fungal morphogenesis and its association with pathogenicity Lecture 16: Fungal virulence traits (how they evolve and how they affect pathogenesis in humans) Lecture 17: Cell biological and epidemiology tools to study fungal pathogenesis Lecture 18: Application of modern genomics and proteomics to fungal pathogenesis studies Lecture 19: Tools for antifungal drug discovery Presentation III on fungal pathogenesis or drug discovery Lecture 20: Guest lecture by Dr. Ana Litvintseva at CDC on Fungal infections on public health
Syllabus