In the first year, students will complete a core curriculum that includes the required courses outlined below, followed by courses for more senior students.
Doctoral Programs
Immunology & Microbial Pathogenesis
Curriculum
Year 1
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Course Director: Ming Li, PhD
Quarters I and II of this course provide a comprehensive overview of basic immunology beginning with the innate immune responses, followed by a study of the main aspects of acquired immunity. Specific interactions of target cells and T cells that are regulated by the MHC molecule and peptide antigens on the target cell and the antigen specific T cell receptor are studied. The generation and molecular structure of B and T cell antigen receptors, and signaling through immune receptors are covered in detail. Additionally, the development of antigen specific T and B cells and specific roles for some cytokines/lymphokines are also explored. Quarters III and IV of the course cover in more depth T and B cell-mediated immunity and topics of clinical relevance, such as microbial immunity, allergy, autoimmunity, tumor immunology, congenital and acquired immunodeficiencies, transplantation immunology, and immunotherapy. All the topics are studied through lectures and in-depth review of selected articles.
Course Syllabus: 2023-2024_fim_syllabus.pdf
Course Director: Alexander Gitlin, PhD
This course is designed to provide all IMP students with the opportunity to present their thesis research to a critical audience composed of their peers, postdoctoral trainees, and faculty. The experience gained is invaluable for developing into an independent scientist.
This course exposes all graduate students in the program to cutting-edge research by national and international leaders in all fields of immunology, including natural immunity, B and T cell biology, immunity to infectious agents, and tumors.
The RCR course is open to all members of the Tri-Institutional (Tri-I) and WCMC Clinical and Translational Science Center (CTSC) communities. Successful completion of the course is required for all trainees, fellows, participants, and scholars receiving support through NIH or NSF Institutional Research Training Grants, Individual Fellowship Awards, Career Development Awards (Institutional and Individual), Research Education Grants, Dissertation Research Grants, or other grant programs with a training component that requires instruction in responsible conduct of research as noted in the Funding Opportunity Announcement. The responsible conduct of research is the practice of scientific investigation with integrity. Training in this area is an essential component of research training; awareness and application of established professional norms and ethical principles is required in the performance of all activities related to scientific research. Weill Cornell Medical College is committed to fostering an environment that promotes the practice of scientific investigation with integrity. This course is intended to help fulfill that commitment.
Year 2
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Course Director: Julie Magarian Blander, PhD
This course is for students who have completed the Fundamental Immunology course. The intent is to acquaint participants with the latest developments in the field of immunobiology and microbial pathogenesis, and to provide guidance for honing skills in scientific discussion and critical thinking. Over the years IMP has developed a portfolio of six-week mini-courses on a variety of front-line topics. Under the motto of learning from each other, each academic year faculty and students choose up to four topics from the repertory or design new ones. While faculty will recruit lecturers from within their own ranks, our sister programs and experts from neighboring institutions, students will actively participate in the course organization and run the discussion sessions following each of the didactic lectures given by the faculty member. Selected topics will be studied in great depth, covering historical perspectives, underlying principles, current status, significance for contemporary immunology and prospects for translational application. Moreover, attempts will be made to connect immunological specialization with general principles of biology and biochemistry.
Course Director: Alexander Gitlin, PhD
This course is designed to provide all IMP students with the opportunity to present their thesis research to a critical audience composed of their peers, postdoctoral trainees, and faculty. The experience gained is invaluable for developing into an independent scientist.
Course Directors: Paul Christos, DrPH
This course is an introduction to the fundamental statistical issues in the design of biological/clinical and translational research studies. Its primary emphasis is on understanding the design and analytic methods of biological/medical research from a statistical perspective. Lectures and homework assignments will focus on the following: exploratory data analysis; basic concepts of statistical analysis; construction of hypothesis tests and confidence intervals; the application of statistical methods for analyzing data; the application of statistical models to relate a response variable to explanatory or descriptive (covariate) variables; and an introduction to meta-analysis.
This course is designed to offer all graduate students in the program an exposure to cutting-edge research by national and international leaders in all fields of immunology, including natural immunity, B and T cell biology, immunity to infectious agents, and tumors.
Only students who have successfully completed Fundamental Immunology & Microbiology and at least one module of Advanced Topics in Immunology are eligible to take the ACE. Students are strongly encouraged to read successful NIH grant applications as preparation for the ACE and to take advantage of the Advanced Topics in Immunology modules to practice developing specific aims and experimental designs.
Students are encouraged to take at least one of the following courses as electives:
- Molecular Genetics bootcamp: This course covers equilibria, bond formation, chemical and enzyme kinetics, enzyme reaction mechanism, ligand binding, protein chemistry and structure, nucleic acid chemistry and structure, principles of protein purification, principles of macromolecular analysis, principles of macromolecular recognition and specificity, membrane biochemistry, metabolic pathways and principles of small molecule analysis.
- Biochemistry & Structural Biology bootcamp: This course is organized around the principles of genetic analysis, with examples chosen from organisms that best illustrate those principles. The course is based on lectures, problem sets and discussion sections. Topics covered include: the nature of the gene, linkage and physical maps, recombination mechanisms, nature of mutations, mutations as tools to dissect gene function, transposition, epigenetics, cancer genetics, genetic analysis of development and cell-cell signaling.
- Microbial Pathogenesis (offered at Rockefeller)
- Journal Club: This is not a registered course. However, students are highly encouraged to participate in one journal club held on campus. Options include the IMP student-run journal club or journal clubs associated with rotation labs.