GCB/CAMB 752
Seminar in Genomics
Course Director GCB/CAMB 752:
Sharon J. Diskin, PhD
3026 Colket Translational Research Building (CTRB)
diskin@email.chop.edu
Course Director CAMB 534:
Tom Jongens, PhD
STRC 10-134
jongens@mail.med.upenn.edu
Spring 2015
Monday 3 PM to 6 PM
Location: BRB 252
Prerequisite: GCB 531/534 Intro to Genomics or equivalent, or permission of instructor.
Class Size limited to 10.
Class Format:
The class will meet once a week for a 3 hr period. Each 3-hr session will include two student
presentations, each centered on a current paper. The “presenting” student will give a 10-15 min
introduction to the topic and paper and will show Powerpoint slides of the data in the paper. All
students are expected to have read and to be prepared to discuss the papers presented. For example,
following the introduction, non-presenting students will be called upon to explain a particular table or
figure, or to discuss a point raised in the paper. The course will be divided into two major segments:
Segment 1: Core Genomics (weeks 1-8)
Segment 2: Genomics and Genetic Models of Complex Diseases (weeks 10-16)
During the first half of the course, recent papers from the primary genomics literature will form the core
material for the course. During the second half, we will be joined by students enrolled in CAMB 534
“Seminar on Current Genetic Research: Modeling Human Disease in Diverse Genetic Systems”.
Together, we will review current literature pertaining to genomics and disease models for three
complex human diseases: Alzheimer’s, Cancer, and Diabetes. Each disease will be discussed for two
classes. At the beginning of the first class, one student will present an overview of the disease (e.g.
symptoms, incidence rate, diagnosis, prognosis, and known/unknown aspects of what causes the
disease), this will be followed by presentations of two recent genomics papers in the disease area.
The second class will include discussion of two papers focused on genetic disease models and model
organisms.
Midterm Writing Assignment:
There will be one major writing assignment that will be considered the midterm, but no final exam.
Near the middle of the course, students will propose a topic and set of recent papers on a particular
area of genomics, and asked to write a review article (similar to Nature News and Views) synthesizing
the key ideas in the papers and explaining their significance. Proposed topics will be reviewed and
approved by the course Director and members of the GCB Prelim Committee.
Grading:
Midterm Writing Assignment: 50%
Paper Presentations: 25%
Class Participation: 25%
Date
January 12
January 19
January 26
February 2
February 9
February 16
February 23
March 2
March 9
March 16
March 23
March 30
April 6
April 13
April 20
April 27
Instructor
Sharon Diskin, PhD
NO CLASS
Sharon Diskin, PhD
Roberto Bonasio, PhD
Roberto Bonasio, PhD
Sharon Diskin, PhD
Nancy Zhang, PhD
Yoseph Barash, PhD
Rick Bushman, PhD
NO CLASS
Gerald Schellenberg,PhD
Tom Jongens, PhD
Yael Mosse, MD
Yael Mosse, MD
Struan Grant, PhD
Klaus Kaestner, PhD
Sharon Diskin, PhD
Tom Jongens, PhD
Topic/Papers
Introduction; brief organizational meeting.
MLK Day
Large Genomics Projects:
1000 Genomics, ENCODE
Epigenomics
GWAS and Rare Variants
DNA Copy Number/Structural
Variation
RNA-seq
Microbiome (Midterm topic due)
SPRING BREAK
Alzheimer’s Disease Genomics
Alzheimer’s Disease Models
Cancer Genomics
Cancer (News and Views due)
Diabetes genomics
Diabetes models
Wrap up