Students learn how nanoparticles can be creatively used for medical diagnostic purposes. They learn about buckminsterfullerenes, more commonly known as buckyballs, and about the potential for these complex carbon molecules to deliver drugs and other treatments into the human body. They brainstorm methods to track buckyballs in the body, then build a buckyball from pipe cleaners with a fluorescent tag to model how nanoparticles might be labeled and detected for use in a living organism. As an extension, students research and select appropriate radioisotopes for different medical applications.

This course considers the process of neurotransmission, especially chemicals used in the brain and elsewhere to carry signals from nerve terminals to the structures they innervate. We focus on monoamine transmitters (acetylcholine; serotonin; dopamine and norepinephrine); we also examine amino acid and peptide transmitters and neuromodulators like adenosine. Macromolecules that mediate neurotransmitter synthesis, release, inactivation and receptor-mediated actions are discussed, as well as factors that regulate their activity and the second-messenger systems and ion fluxes that they control. The involvement of particular neurotransmitters in human diseases is considered.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Define matter and elementsDescribe the interrelationship between protons, neutrons, and electronsCompare the ways in which electrons can be donated or shared between atomsExplain the ways in which naturally occurring elements combine to create molecules, cells, tissues, organ systems, and organisms

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Define matter and elementsDescribe the interrelationship between protons, neutrons, and electronsCompare the ways in which electrons can be donated or shared between atomsExplain the ways in which naturally occurring elements combine to create molecules, cells, tissues, organ systems, and organisms

This course teaches the design of contemporary information systems for biological and medical data. Examples are chosen from biology and medicine to illustrate complete life cycle information systems, beginning with data acquisition, following to data storage and finally to retrieval and analysis. Design of appropriate databases, client-server strategies, data interchange protocols, and computational modeling architectures. Students are expected to have some familiarity with scientific application software and a basic understanding of at least one contemporary programming language (e.g. C, C++, Java, Lisp, Perl, Python). A major term project is required of all students. This subject is open to motivated seniors having a strong interest in biomedical engineering and information system design with the ability to carry out a significant independent project.
This course was offered as part of the Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA) program as course number SMA 5304.

Innovation in global health practice requires leaders who are trained to think and act like entrepreneurs. Whether at a hospital bedside or in a remote village, global healthcare leaders must understand both the business of running a social venture as well as how to plan for and provide access to life saving medicines and essential health services.
Each week, the course features a lecture and skills-based tutorial session led by industry, non-profit foundation, technology, and academic leaders to think outside the box in tackling and solving problems in innovation for global health practice through the rationale design of technology and service solutions. The lectures provide the foundation for faculty-mentored pilot project from MOH, students, or non-profit sponsors that may involve creation of a market or business plan, product development, or a research study design.

This course is an introduction to the cross-cultural study of biomedical ethics, examining moral foundations of the science and practice of Western biomedicine through case studies of abortion, contraception, cloning, organ transplantation and other issues. It evaluates challenges that new medical technologies pose to the practice and availability of medical services around the globe, and to cross-cultural ideas of kinship and personhood. Also discussed are critiques of the biomedical tradition from anthropological, feminist, legal, religious, and cross-cultural theorists.

In this capstone course students will use new and previous knowledge about drug delivery to design capstone innovation project. Throughout the course students will engage in learning opportunities in drug delivery, gain a better understanding of anatomy and physiology related to drug delivery, and participate in a self-directed project to solve a problem. This learning tool will guide students through the process of understanding drug delivery and how drug delivery is applied to treating infectious diseases. DDF’s capstone project is aligned with NGSS and Common Core standards in math and ELA core curriculum. The learning activities, final project, and mid-unit assessments are provided to the teacher and students in the form of eLearning readings, quizzes, interactive tools, and presentation outlines. Students using this module should find success in self-directed learning, though the of use additional resources in the community, at school, at DDF, and in scientific literature, may help them achieve their goal.For more information about expanded learning opportunities, questions about the program, and assistance with learning tools, please contact our DDF eLearning Project Manager Lindsay Malcolm: lmalcolm@tsrlinc.com

In this capstone course, students will use new and previous knowledge about drug delivery and biopharmaceutics, to design an innovation. Throughout the course students will engage in learning opportunities related to real-world scenarios in drug delivery, gain a better understanding of the anatomy and physiology related to drug delivery, and participate in a self-directed project to solve a fictitious problem. This learning tool will guide students through the process of understanding real-world applications of drug delivery and how drug delivery is applied to treating infectious diseases. DDF’s innovation project is aligned with NGSS and Common Core standards in math and ELA core curriculum subject areas. The learning activities, final project, and mid-unit assessments are provided to the teacher and students in the form of eLearning readings, quizzes, interactive tools, student response sheets, and presentation outlines. Students using this module should find success in self-directed learning, though they may use additional resources in the community, the guidance of teachers, the advice of scientists or biomedical professionals at DDF, or the knowledge presented in scientific literature to help them achieve their goal; though this module should provide most of the tools they will need for guidance. For more information on in-person learning experiences, please contact our DDF eLearning Project Manager, Lindsay Malcolm: lmalcolm@tsrlinc.com

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Over the past few decades, the pharmaceutical industry has shifted its focus to areas of high unmet need Such as treating cancer and rare diseases For many of these conditions, traditional approaches to clinical trial design fall short The transition therefore calls for innovative clinical and regulatory strategies that can deliver new drugs fast Advanced digital technologies now offer unprecedented opportunities to improve drug development and, by extension, patients’ lives These include capturing patient-reported outcomes facilitating accelerated regulatory approval pathways analyzing real-world data and using intelligent analytics solutions While the tools and practices for unlocking the potential of innovation abound pharma is only in the early stages of adapting them at scale Aligning the needs of patients, providers, payers, and regulators will require biopharma organizations to adapt and evolve And leveraging digital tools, data, and analytics could help them get there Lee e.."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

The target learner will have started in a dental hygiene program and have basic knowledge of common medical emergencies that may occur in the dental office. As a dental hygiene student, this lesson will enhance the learner's knowledge on basic emergency drug use as a dental hygienist in a clinic. Ideally, the learner would have completed the lesson regarding emergency drugs in their pharmacology course and can utilize this lesson as a supplement to self refelect on their retention of knowledge and key take aways.

In the course we will use a feminist interdisciplinary lens and invite students to look critically at how practices like privatization, shrinking public “safety nets”, de-regulation, and the commodification of health services intersect inevitably with gender, race and class, for both men and women. We will draw on a blend of empirical studies, policy materials, films and guest speakers to examine specific health issues like menstrual health, corporate obstetrics, abortion, obesity, intersex, harassment and other forms of gendered violence, mental health and stress, parent-child attachment, as well as ethics and pharmaceuticals.
The Graduate Consortium in Women’s Studies (GCWS)
This course is part of the Graduate Consortium in Women’s Studies. The GCWS at MIT brings together scholars and teachers at nine degree-granting institutions in the Boston area who are devoted to graduate teaching and research in Women’s Studies and to advancing interdisciplinary Women’s Studies scholarship. Learn more about the GCWS.

Students are challenged to think as biomedical engineers and brainstorm ways to administer medication to a patient who is unable to swallow. They learn about the advantages and disadvantages of current drug delivery methods—oral, injection, topical, inhalation and suppository—and pharmaceutical design considerations, including toxicity, efficacy, size, solubility/bioavailability and drug release duration. They apply their prior knowledge about human anatomy, the circulatory system, polymers, crystals and stoichiometry to real-world biomedical applications. A Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentation and worksheets are provided. This lesson prepares students for the associated activity in which they create and test large-size drug encapsulation prototypes to provide the desired delayed release and duration timing.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"G protein-coupled receptors, or GPCRs, are cell membrane receptors that bind to various molecules. Upon binding, GPCRs are known to undergo structural changes, which activates them for signaling between cells, but only recently have researchers begun to understand the functions and pathways of GPCRs in animals. Extensive evidence suggests that animal steroids, including estrogen, activate GPCRs. The receptor GPER1, for example, facilitates estrogen signaling but may also play a neuroprotective role, making it an attractive drug target. In insects, the hormone 20E binds to GPCRs to signal molting and metamorphosis. Understanding how to disrupt this signaling could lead to precision chemicals that control pest insects. Much work remains to map out the numerous hormone pathways orchestrated by GPCRs. Future and ongoing studies could help scientists develop pharmaceuticals that tap into these pathways to improve human health and productivity..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

Students continue the research begun in the associated lesson as if they were biomedical engineers working for a pharmaceutical company. Groups each perform a simple chemical reaction (to precipitate solid calcium out of solution) to observe what may occur when Osteopontin levels drop in the body. With this additional research, students determine potential health complications that might arise from a new drug that could reduce inflammatory pain in many patients, improving their quality of life. The goal of this activity is to illustrate biomedical engineering as medical problem solving, as well as emphasize the importance of maintaining normal body chemistry.

This innovative, trans-faculty subject teaches how information technologies (IT) are reshaping and redefining the health care marketplace through improved economies of scale, greater technical efficiencies in the delivery of care to patients, advanced tools for patient education and self-care, network integrated decision support tools for clinicians, and the emergence of e-commerce in health care. Student tutorials provide an opportunity for interactive discussion. Interdisciplinary project teams comprised of Harvard and MIT graduate students in medicine, business, law, education, engineering, computer science, public health, and government collaborate to design innovative IT applications. Projects are presented during the final class.
Starting in Spring 2010, this course will be titled Enabling Technology Innovation in Healthcare and the Life Sciences.

New understanding of human genetics will not only make it easier to diagnose diseases, it will also change how diseases are treated. Scientists and drug companies are using knowledge from the Human Genome Project to find cures for everything from cancer to obesity (see chapter 1: Mapping the Human Genome). This new medicine is called "genomic" medicine. Medicine is changing at a rapid rate as a result of the new knowledge of the human genome. It is important for students to know how drugs and treatments are changing and will continue to change.

Let's Learn about Chirality is a video-based module that introduces the concept of chirality and stereoisomers to students. The module is an Open Educational Resources #OER containing short videos and fun quizzes* that you can take to test your understanding. In this module, you will learn to use different terms for stereoisomers and chiral molecules, recognize characteristics of stereoisomers, construct a model of 2-chlorobutane, identify the chiral carbons in chemical structures and assign absolute configurations to a molecule. The concluding video will briefly explain how chirality affects the chemistry of substances & pharmaceuticals. Click on View Resources and let's learn about Chirality.*For teachers, the Genial.ly quizzes are re-useable for your classes.*

This course addresses the scientific basis for the development of new drugs. The first half of the semester begins with an overview of the drug discovery process, followed by fundamental principles of pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, metabolism, and the mechanisms by which drugs cause therapeutic and toxic responses. The second half of the semester applies those principles to case studies and literature discussions of current problems with specific drugs, drug classes, and therapeutic targets.