509968 - IMMUNOTHERAPY

insegnamento

ID:

509968

Durata (ore):

28

CFU:

SSD:

PATOLOGIA GENERALE

Anno:

2025

Periodo di attività

Primo Semestre (29/09/2025 - 16/01/2026)

Obiettivi Formativi

The aim of the Immunotherapy course is to introduce students to the power of stimulating the immune system and its responses with examples from recent literature on molecular medicine applications and how humanity can make use of it for biotechnology. At the end of the course, students should have received the stimuli to use their intellect and be inspired by the creativity and proficiency of modern scientists and science. Pertaining to Biocomputing Laboratory module, this is a window of opportunity for the students to acquire hands-on knowledge on how to use free servers and software to understand and study proteins, tools that they may wish to use and refine throughout their scientific career. The aim of the cancer immunotherapy module is to introduce students to the main available strategies and future perspectives. The module will allow the student to have a clinical overview of strategies approved or in trial. At the end of the course students will be able to have a framework about the state of the art of immunotherapy from a clinical and preclinical point of view and critically discuss published data.

Prerequisiti

Appraisal of the topics covered in the Immunotherapy course requires a basic knowledge in immunology and a general acquaintance on how the immune system is organized, works and can be stimulated; this is expected. The intellectual drive necessary to be exposed to and appreciate biotechnological applications in the realm of immunotherapy is expected from the students of this Master. No specific knowledge is required for the Biocomputing Laboratory module, however basic computer handling skills are essential. Previous experience in bioinformatics and protein analysis is an obvious advantage that is expected to be put at service of the rest of the class.

Metodi didattici

Lectures, self-assessment test, multimedia tools, discussion of recent publications related to lecture topics, hands-on in silico laboratory, refinement of presentation skills.

Verifica Apprendimento

Complete attendance to the Biocomputing Laboratory is compulsory and it accounts to a maximum of 7.5 points. The grade is determined by the attendance, interaction and, most importantly, the final presentation. Grades are communicated a few days after presentations take place. The Paper Presentation (maximum 7.5 points) is an oral presentation with critical analysis of one paper published in a peer reviewed international journal. Scientific reports are provided by the Course Lead and relate to the course topics. The list of papers is provided to the students in advance and the selection of papers is operated interactively the following week during a frontal lecture. Depending on the number of students taking the assignment (set in advance), one, two or three lecture sessions can be dedicated to the presentations. Each student has 20 min for the presentation, followed by a short discussion (max 5 min) involving the class and the course lead, at the end of each presentation. Immediate feedback will be given to students. Grades are communicated a few days after all presentations take place. Therefore, The Biocomputing Laboratory (BL) and, optionally, the Paper Presentation (PP) can sum up to 7.5 (BL) or 15 (PP and BL) points that are going to be summed to the final exam points to form the final grade. The final exam is in written form and is divided into open questions of 15 min (maximum 7.5 points each), covering all topics discussed during lectures. The exam is divided as follows: 3 questions (45 min) for the students that did not perform the Paper Presentation; 2 questions (30 min) for the students that did perform the Paper Presentation. Evaluation scale: 0-31 (30 with honors). The exam is considered passed with a score of at least 18 out of 30. The result of the Immunotherapy exam will be published on Esse3, where students can accept or refuse the grade. For registration, students must enroll directly through their personal area. The final grade for the “NON PHARMACEUTICAL THERAPIES I” course will be recorded in the student’s curriculum and will represent the weighted arithmetic mean of the grades obtained for Gene Therapy (3 CFU), Immunotherapy (3 CFU), and Viruses and Vaccines (3 CFU) modules.

Testi

The slides of the lectures and the suggested research articles will be available in Kiro site.

Contenuti

Introduction to Immunotherapy During the first session, students will be given an overview on the course with a description and discussion on the different components plus a general introduction on concepts that are related to the realm of Immunotherapy. The Biocomputing Laboratory module will also be introduced and discussed. CAR-T and other CARs The powerful Chimeric Antigen Receptor tool in cancer and beyond will be analyzed in class with special emphasis on the protein design and engineering behind the system, with open discussion with the students. Students will be asked to actively search for CAR examples they found particularly interesting and bring them to the attention of the class. Immunotherapy and Allergy Allergy is being tackled by different immunotherapy approaches, some of which represent the history of our understanding of allergic manifestations. Biocomputing Laboratory The Biocomputing Laboratory is an activity in which students are exposed to hands-on Computer Lab sessions covering topics related to in silico biomedical matters such as: phylogenetic trees, amino acid sequence analysis, protein structure analysis and prediction, rational protein modification and design, protein-protein interaction and drug-protein interaction. Biocomputing sessions are conducted in a mixed mode: lecturer instruction (how to perform operations); students hands-on; knowledge dissemination by the lecturer (handling and interpretation of data, problem understanding and solving and interactive Q & A sessions); performance of remote (web-based databases and software servers) and local (downloaded and installed free computer programs) tasks. Biocomputing is an interdisciplinary field focusing on study, design, and implementation of information systems that allow students to perform in silico biomedical research. Students will acquire essential skills through hands-on coursework, instrumental for the development of the basic knowledge necessary to interrogate in silico systems. The module is divided into five sessions (repeated twice after dividing the class into two halves) of which the first four take the students progressively deeper into protein design with examples from the Faculty research and immunotherapy-related matters. The last session consists in the presentation of essays by the students divided into groups. In the presentations students will have to tackle a biocomputing aspect of their choice yet related to immunotherapy and demonstrate that they picked up all the bioinformatic tools learned and experienced during the Biocomputing Laboratory module. Discussion Sessions Discussion sessions will be held in which key papers will be analyzed and discussed, presented either by the students that opted for the Paper Presentation or by Dr. Vangelista.

Lingua Insegnamento

INGLESE

Altre informazioni

Students can contact Faculty by e-mail to ask for clarification on the content of the lectures and on the study material or to request an appointment. Faculty will provide the learning test correction and will be always available for any clarification. luca.vangelista@unipv.it