ENGINEERED CELLULAR SYSTEMS APPLICATIONS FOR THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY
Stampa
Enrollment year
2019/2020
Academic year
2020/2021
Regulations
DM270
Academic discipline
ING-IND/34 (INDUSTRIAL BIOENGINEERING)
Department
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL,COMPUTER AND BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING
Course
BIOENGINEERING
Curriculum
Cellule, tessuti e dispositivi
Year of study
Period
1st semester (28/09/2020 - 22/01/2021)
ECTS
6
Lesson hours
75 lesson hours
Language
Italian
Activity type
WRITTEN TEST
Teacher
PASQUALINI FRANCESCO (titolare) - 6 ECTS
Prerequisites
Good understanding of the English language.
Students are expected to have a working understanding of the following key concepts (which will be briefly reviewed at the beginning of the course, anyway):
Solid Mechanics
Rigid-body mechanics and free-body diagrams
Mechanics of deformable bodies
Large deformation mechanics
Fluid Dynamics
Fluid statics
Newtonian fluids
Navier-Stokes equations
Rheological analysis
Dimensional analysis
Statistical mechanics
Internal energy
Entropy
Free Energy
(Micro-)canonical ensemble
Random walks
Learning outcomes
A recent trend in Pharmaceutical RnD is the validation of cell culture models that can help develop personalized therapies. Engineered cell culture platforms, such as organoids or organs-on-chips, can provide such predictive power and are good opportunities for students in biomedical engineering to enter the Biotech and Pharma job markets. In this advanced course, students will learn tissue engineering techniques to fabricate hearts-on-chips as well as computational and experimental strategies to characterize cell and tissue biomechanics on-chip.
This course, which will be given by a faculty member recently returned from the Harvard University Wyss Institute (where organs-on-chips were invented), has the following objectives.
To be familiar with the main applications in the pharmaceutical industry of:
Mechanobiology
Organs-on-chips
To be capable of replicating experiments and analysis described in relevant scientific publications in the field
To be able to critically evaluate scientific publications in this field
To be able to communicate analytically and syntethically the progress in this field
To be able to network with other experts in this field that will be involved with the course.
Course contents
Understanding drug RnD in Biotech and Pharma (7.5 hrs of lectures)
Advanced notions of cell biology (7.5 hrs of lectures)
Advanced notions in statistical and solid mechanics (7.5 hrs of lectures)
Cardiac mechanobiology (7.5 hrs of lectures)
How to measure cellular forces (22.5 hrs of lab activities)
How to measure mechano-transduction (22.5 hrs of lab activities)
Teaching methods
Flipped classroom:
Case studies (publications)
Classroom discussion
Laboratory activities
Reccomended or required readings
The core material will be provided by the instructor.
Suggested reading:
Jacobs, C. R. Introduction to Cell Mechanics and Mechanobiology. (ISBN-13: 978-0815344254)
Nelson P. Biological Physics. Energy, Information, Life. (ISBN: 978-0578695471)
Hang, J; Bocard, D; Peitisch M. C.. Organ-on-a-chip: Engineered Microenvironments for Safety and Efficacy Testing. (ISBN: 978-0128172025)
Assessment methods
Written exam + optional interview
Further information
Sustainable development goals - Agenda 2030