Through Personalized Medicine, students will acquire the necessary knowledge to integrate advanced biomedical technologies and engineering methodologies into the design and implementation of treatments tailored to the specific needs of each patient. Additionally, advances in genomics, other omics (transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics) and other molecular technologies that form the basis of personalized medicine will be examined. Emphasis will be placed on data integration and the development of health information systems for more precise and personalized decision-making in medical practice.
Titular Professors
Physiology, Pathophysiology
Students acquire the following knowledge and develop the following skills:
1. To understand the genetic characteristics of the individual that explain much of the interindividual variability and the personalized response to medical treatments and other health interventions
2. Knowing how to evaluate the pathophysiological processes of an individual to carry out individualized therapeutic approaches
Unit 1. Medicine and Personalized Medicine.
Unit 2. Foundations of innovation in Medicine. Types of human studies and levels of evidence. Measures of association. Interpreting evidence in humans. Research studies in Medicine and Personalized Medicine. Sufficient evidence for diagnosis, prediction, and prevention/treatment/cure of diseases. Searching for scientific evidence in Medicine and Personalized Medicine.
Unit 3. Molecular pathophysiology of diseases. Genome, transcription, and translation. Oxidative stress, chronic inflammation, and cellular proliferation. Molecular pathophysiology of chronic diseases. Other mechanisms: hepatic metabolism, intestinal integrity.
Unit 4. Personalization in disease diagnosis. Diagnosis and screening. Classical factors. Innovation in diagnosis: imaging and omics.
Unit 5. Personalization in disease prediction. Evidence and classical factors. Innovation in prediction: genetics. Genetic variants, genetic predisposition, genome-wide association studies (GWAS), and polygenic risk scores (PRS). Other predictive markers and biomarkers: omics, wearable devices.
Unit 6. Personalization in the prevention, treatment, and cure of diseases. Randomized controlled clinical trials and other strategies to establish causality. Personalization in prevention through lifestyle: nutrigenetics. Personalization of pharmacological treatments: pharmacogenetics. Personalized biological therapies: gene, cell, and immunotherapy.
The Personalized Medicine course is taught using a combination of teaching methodologies: the lecture, to convey the fundamental theoretical concepts of the course, and practical sessions where challenges related to personalized medicine are posed and solved through individual or group activities.
Combination of continuous assessment (partial on the foundations of Personalized Medicine, exercises in critical reading of scientific articles on Personalized Medicine, and critical reading of articles on pharmacogenetics) and final exam.
Regular exam
Part I: Continuous assessment (60%)
- Midterm (40%) (Highly significant assessment activity)
- Critical reading of scientific articles in Medicine (10%) (Moderately significant assessment activity)
- Search and critical appraisal of scientific evidence in Medicine and Personalized Medicine (5%) (Moderately significant assessment activity)
- Critical reading of scientific articles in Pharmacogenetics (5%) (Moderately significant assessment activity)
Part II: Final exam (40%) (Highly significant assessment activity)
To pass the course, the average of the midterm and final exam grades must be ? 5, and the average of all course grades must be ? 5. Otherwise, the course will be failed and the student must sit the second (resit) session. Failure to submit continuous-assessment activities will be recorded as 0 in the final grade.
Extraordinary exam (resit) / February extraordinary exam
In the extraordinary exams, the student will be assessed on all course content, including that covered by continuous-assessment activities. The resit exam will count for 100% of the course grade.
This course is prepared based on scientific articles and literature reviews on the topics of the subject. However, here is a list of books that cover the topics of the course:
- Ginsburg, G. S., & Willard, H. F. (Eds.). (2022). Genomic and Personalized Medicine (2nd ed.). Academic Press. ISBN: 978-0128006856
- Feero, W. G., & Guttmacher, A. E. (Eds.). (2017). Genomics in Medicine: Delivering on the Promise (1st ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN: 978-0199378680
- Roden, D. M. (Ed.). (2019). Pharmacogenomics: Challenges and Opportunities in Therapeutic Implementation (1st ed.). Academic Press. ISBN: 978-0128126264
- Snyder, M., & Gerstein, M. (2020). Personalized Omics: The Future of Precision Health (1st ed.). Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. ISBN: 978-1621823171
Check the electronic folder for the course.