Unit APPLIED HYGEN
- Course
- Biology
- Study-unit Code
- GP004089
- Curriculum
- In all curricula
- Teacher
- Roberto Fabiani
- Teachers
-
- Roberto Fabiani
- Hours
- 47 ore - Roberto Fabiani
- CFU
- 6
- Course Regulation
- Coorte 2021
- Offered
- 2022/23
- Learning activities
- Caratterizzante
- Area
- Discipline del settore biomedico
- Academic discipline
- MED/42
- Type of study-unit
- Obbligatorio (Required)
- Type of learning activities
- Attività formativa monodisciplinare
- Language of instruction
- Italian
- Contents
- From traditional epidemiology to molecular epidemiology. Type of
epidemiological studies. Categories of biomarkers. The use of biomarkers
in risk assessment. Role of molecular epidemiology in the prevention of
chronic degenerative diseases. Applications of classical and molecular
epidemiology to risk assessment associated with exposure to
environmental and food xenobiotics. The role of protective factors - Reference texts
- -Molecular Epidemiology, principles and practics. Schulte A.A., Perera F.P.
Ed. Academic press
-Molecular Epidemiology of Chronic Diseases. Wild C., Vineis P., Garte S.
Ed. Wiley - Educational objectives
- At the end of the course students will have acquired extensive knowledge
about the benefits and limits the use of biomarkers can make to
epidemiological study. They will also acquire knowledge about some of
the most common experimental methods for the determination and
validation of biomarkers. They will also acquire the methodology for
assessing environmental and food risks. - Prerequisites
- None
- Teaching methods
- Face-to-face
- Other information
- Frequency is strongly recommended
- Learning verification modality
- Oral exam on the topics covered during the lessons. 3 main questions will be asked regarding the different aspects of the course to which 10 points will be attributed, in case of exhaustive answer.
- Extended program
- Lectures
General informations on the epidemiological method. Descriptive
epidemiology. Incidence, prevalence, mortality rates. Standardization by
age. Overview of analytic epidemiology and intervention studies. Risk
assessment. Relative risk, odds ratio, attributable risk. Advantages and
disadvantages of prospective and retrospective studies. Use of
biomarkers in epidemiological studies. Molecular epidemiology.
Classification of biomarkers. Biomarkers of exposure, effect and
susceptibility. Example of biomarkers used for risk assessment following
exposure to cigarette smoke. Advantages of using biomarkers in
epidemiological studies. Selection, validation and predictive significance
of biomarkers. Internal and external validity. Sensitivity and specificity.
Biomarkers of exposure: exposure pathways, lifetime, kinetics,
pharmacokinetic modeling. Use of biomarkers in the case-control studies
and cohort studies: advantages and disadvantages. Examples of
analytical studies conducted on humans through the use of different
classes of biomarkers. Molecular epidemiology in cancer research.
Methods for assessment of DNA damage: comet assay, p32 post-labeling,
micronuclei. Oxidative stress, oxidative DNA damage, antioxidants,
biomarkers of oxidative stress. Adducts to proteins. Mutagenicity tests in
vitro. Spectra of mutation, oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes.
Biomarkers of susceptibility. Cancer biomarkers. Molecular epidemiology
of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases. Application of classical
and molecular epidemiology for the risk assessment associated with
exposure to environmental and food xeno-biotics. The role of protective
factors.
Laboratory exercises
Flow cytometry
Methods for the DNA damage evaluation