Interdisciplinary Training in Pulmonary Sciences Part 1

BPH 305QC Subject & Catalog Number

Description

The intersection of environment and health is by necessity an interdisciplinary focus. The most promising advances in lung biology and respiratory disease are resulting from teams of scientists with diverse disciplinary training, including biology, medicine, engineering, and physics. In addition to a strong foundation in a specific discipline, the ability to recognize and act upon opportunities presented by outside disciplines is a crucial skill. This course is designed to train scientists to approach lung biology and respiratory diseases with an interdisciplinary perspective, in particular by bridging the gap between life sciences and physical/engineering sciences. With a focus on laboratory sciences and on mechanistic levels of understanding, course materials will cover 3 main problem areas: asthma, air pollution, and lung infection. The course consists of weekly course-meetings (lectures and case-studies) plus weekly research seminars from the physiology program. Students will gain skills in recognizing the relative strengths and weaknesses of different disciplinary approaches applied to pulmonary sciences, in designing interdisciplinary experiments effectively, and in interpreting interdisciplinary results critically.