CCBIO905 – Methods in Cancer Biomarker Research (2022)
This course focuses on the full panel of standard and advanced methods with relevance for cancer biomarker research. The intention is to provide an understanding of the various methodologies and their application in basic and translational cancer research. The course further covers relevant topics like optimal sample collection and biobanking.
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Topics
The thematic parts include methods ranging from basic techniques on nucleotides and proteins to more advanced approaches, as well as bioinformatics and biobanking.
The course will focus on methods to study biomarkers in tissue samples, blood samples, circulating tumor cells and DNA, and other biologic materials. Methodologies like PCR techniques, microarray, next-generation sequencing, bioinformatics and artificial intelligence, immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization, protein ligation assays, Western blot and ELISA, tissue microdissection and proteomics, flow cytometry, flow and imaging mass cytometry, and biobanking will be presented. Changes in nucleic acids and proteins in different settings will be discussed, as will the clinical applications.
In order to earn the ECTS credits, the students are required to prepare group presentations on important scientific papers describing biomarker research or results from clinical trials that have led to the approval of new cancer treatments for selected patient groups. The presentations should address topics like the studies’ background, drug mechanisms, the methods and impact of the biomarkers reported in terms of predictive power, and the trials’ clinical results. The students will discuss the papers with their peers and a panel of experts evaluating the presentations.
The course concludes with a three-hour multiple-choice examination.
Responsible for the course: Lars A. Akslen and Agnete Engelsen have the academic responsibility, and Ingeborg Winge (ingeborg.winge@uib.no) is the course coordinator.
Who may attend the course: The course is open to researchers, postdocs, PhD students, master students, students enrolled in the Medical Student Research Program, and national and international students and researchers interested in the topic.
Please note that students may choose to participate to earn ECTS credits or not for this course. The registration for the various alternatives is described below.
Alternative with ECTS credits: This is a 5 ECTS credit course at the University of Bergen (UiB). For those who aim to attend the complete course, incl. participation in group assignments to be eligible for either the ECTS credits or a course diploma: please register as described:
- UiB students: If you are a registered student at UiB and need a transcript of your ECTS credits earned by this course, you need to register for the course in Studentweb. Please note that the deadline for registration in Studentweb is September 1st, 2022.
- External students that need a transcript of ECTS credits earned by this course register as a guest student in Søknadsweb. Please note that the deadline for registering as a guest student is August 1st, 2022.
Alternative without ECTS credits: Internal and external students who are only interested in attending selected lectures and want to hop in and out as they please, may register their attendance here. Please note that you will not be eligible for the ECTS credits or diploma if you choose this option.
The registration will be closed at no notice when the maximum is reached.
Place: Online on a digital platform. Access links will be sent to the registered participants in due time.
When: September 27-29, 2022
Program: Final program is available through this link.
More info for students on the student pages.