BME 411: Science and Technology Approaches to Problems in Human Health
Course co-conspirators: Chris Schaffer (Biomedical Engineering, Cornell) Mike Kaplitt (Neurological Surgery, Weill)
http://www.bme.cornell.edu/
BME 411 Overview
New course team taught by faculty from Cornell at both the Weill Medical College and Ithaca campuses Organized by BME (Schaffer) and Neurological Surgery (Kaplitt) First offered in Fall 2007, to be offered in subsequent Fall terms Expenses partially funded by grant from Caren Heller from the Cornell Office for Inter-Campus Initiatives
About 150 (!) students completed the course this past Fall
http://www.bme.cornell.edu/
BME 411 Goals
Provide an in-depth look at selected problems that affect human health as well as current research efforts focused on these problems.
Give Cornell undergraduates interested in health-related careers a better understanding of how medicine works.
Encourage students to think about how important research problems are identified and honed into potential projects.
http://www.bme.cornell.edu/
BME 411 Goals
Provide an in-depth look at selected problems that affect human health as well as current research efforts focused on these problems. Lectures and reading assignments Give Cornell undergraduates interested in health-related careers a better understanding of how medicine works. Meet Weill faculty in lectures and informal meetings
Encourage students to think about how important research problems are identified and honed into potential projects. Team-based term project
http://www.bme.cornell.edu/
BME 411 Challenges: Lectures
Selection of topics for course Coherence of material presented by many different lecturers Diverse student backgrounds 1/3 engineering 1/3 biology 1/3 other Personalized instruction in a large class
http://www.bme.cornell.edu/
Coherence of the course
Careful staging of speakers, grouped into “modules”
Modules centered on diseases, don’t try to cover everything
In one module: Weill speaker(s) describes: 1. normal and disease state physiology 2. current diagnosis, treatment options 3. problems or unmet needs, clinical research Ithaca speaker(s) follow: 1. research approach and results 2. how work may improve patient outcomes
http://www.bme.cornell.edu/
Topics
Infectious disease Cancer Cardiovascular disease Neurological disease Orthopedic disease Ethanol dependence
http://www.bme.cornell.edu/
Lectures
Date 08/23/07 08/28/07 08/30/07 09/04/07 09/06/07 09/11/07 09/13/07 09/18/07 09/20/07 09/25/07 09/27/07 10/02/07 10/4/07 10/11/07 Lecturer Prof. Mike Kaplitt Prof. Chris Schaffer Prof. Beth Rhoades Prof. Susana Mendez Prof. Mike Kaplitt Prof. Mark Souweidane Prof. Jonathan Butcher Prof. Mike Kotlikoff Prof. Bill Olbricht Prof. Joe Fetcho Prof. Ted Schwartz Prof. Chris Schaffer Prof. Steven Goldring Prof. Roger Hartl Prof. Larry Bonassar Topic Introduction Infectious disease: Tuberculosis: Infectious disease: Leishmania Infectious disease: Virology Targeted drug delivery in brain cancer Heart valve disease and treatment Stem cell therapy in heart disease Convection enhanced drug delivery in the brain Spinal cord injury Surgical treatments for epilepsy Animal studies of small stroke Orthopedic surgery Spine surgery Tissue engineering
http://www.bme.cornell.edu/
Lectures
Date 10/16/07 10/18/07 10/23/07 10/25/07 10/30/07 11/1/07 11/1/07 11/6/07 11/8/07 11/13/07 11/15/07 11/20/07 11/27/07 11/29/07 Lecturer Prof. Sean O’Connor Prof. Peter Doerschuck Prof. Mike Kaplitt Prof. Moonsoo Jin Prof. Phil Steig Prof. Susan Pannullo Prof. Mike Shuler Prof. Warren Zipfel Prof. Claudia Fischback Prof. John Boockvar Prof. Pierre Gobin Dr. David Fischell Prof. Robin Davisson Prof. David Skorton Topic Ethanol dependence Ethanol biosensors and pharmacokinetics Parkinson’s disease and gene therapy Protein engineering for therapeutics Arteriovenous malformations Brain cancer Evaluating cancer therapeutics Optical imaging of cancer Tissue engineered tumor models Stem cells and cancer Brain vascular disorders Stents for coronary vascular disease Hypertension and pregnancy Clinical cardiac imaging
http://www.bme.cornell.edu/
Dealing with diverse preparations
Background readings weekly Enforce student reading and lecture attendance with webbased quizzes (50% of grade) 10 multiple choice per week 3 essay questions per week (1 is “what is confusing”)
http://www.bme.cornell.edu/
Avoiding anonymity
Multiple opportunities for informal interactions with faculty: lunches, informal question sessions, career talks opportunity for students to learn about medical care Every web-based quiz ends with the same question: “Describe any material you found confusing. If nothing was confusing, describe something you found interesting.” Responses summarized for lecturing faculty Common questions addressed in a posted document Uncommon questions addressed through a direct email
http://www.bme.cornell.edu/
Course project
Course project in teams of 3 (at least 1 engineer, 1 biologist) Write a proposal for health-related research, NIH style Three stages: 1. “Specific Aims” page (10% of grade) 2. Short presentation and meeting with faculty (10%) students talked for 5 min., and got 15 min. of questions/comments from Schaffer and Kaplitt 3. Five page final proposal (30%)
http://www.bme.cornell.edu/
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http://www.bme.cornell.edu/
Results from last term
15 lectures from Ithaca campus faculty: from BME, Neurobiology, Vet school 11 lectures from Weill faculty: from Neurological Surgery, HSS 3 outside guest lectures 1 university president lecture
http://www.bme.cornell.edu/
Unexpected benefits
Students worked very hard on their projects, going well beyond anything we covered in class For many, this course was the first time they read original scientific papers.
For almost ALL students, this course was the first time they had to sift through scientific papers on their own (rather than having an “ideal” paper handed to them)
Many of these students really got a taste of what the planning/conceptual stages of research is like
http://www.bme.cornell.edu/
Faculty liked lecturing in the course
“One thing I liked about participating in BME 411 was the wide variety of student backgrounds… forced me to consider a more broad-based approach to the material… I thought the conception and execution of the course were terrific.” “I liked knowing that the students had read an article or two before the lecture… The questions I got seemed to come from well informed students.” “One thing I liked very much about BME 411 was the keen interest from the students... Most of the questions were related to the future of translational research in this area, with a number of insightful ideas. It's fun to interact with students who are really interested.”
http://www.bme.cornell.edu/
Students liked taking the course
“Interesting lecturers from all fields of medical research.” “Very enjoyable course with lots of interesting material.” “Really stimulated my interest in medicine and biomedical research… The project was a great opportunity to work in a team to develop an innovative idea in the field of medicine.” “The strength of this course is the overall exposure to current research in medical engineering. You really do get a good feel of the field and where it's going.”
“Overall, the best course that I've taken at Cornell.”
http://www.bme.cornell.edu/
… Or most of them did…
“I really liked the final reception for the class on the last day, but I was little bit disappointed because there were no cheese cubes, which I think is an essential component of any reception.” “I am not that interested in research so I found the engineering aspect rather boring…”
http://www.bme.cornell.edu/
BME 411 next year
Beginning planning for next Fall’s offering -- recruiting lecturers now! Overall course structure seems sound -- need to better inform lecturers of topics covered by other speakers Readings ahead of class work well, but need three tiers: “science times” article review article 1 - 2 original research papers Grading strategy will be adjusted a bit: quizzes 40% (individual) specific aims 10% (group) presentation 20% (individual/group) final proposal 30% (group)
http://www.bme.cornell.edu/
BME 411 Goals
Provide an in-depth look at selected problems that affect human health as well as current research efforts focused on these problems. Lectures and reading assignments Give Cornell undergraduates interested in health-related careers better understanding of how medicine works. Meet Weill faculty through lectures and informally
Encourage students to think about how important research problems are identified and honed into potential projects. Team-based term project
http://www.bme.cornell.edu/