Applications in Medical Microbiology

Objectives

Within the scope of this Curricular Unit, students should acquire/develop:
1. Increased awareness on different applied and research areas of Medical Microbiology.
2. Improved skills for application of theoretical knowledge to actual laboratorial approaches on Medical Bacteriology and Virology.
3. Laboratory skills on different molecular and phenotypic approaches.
4. Improved critical analysis of different laboratorial approaches in Medical Microbiology.

General characterization

Code

5573045

Credits

6

Responsible teacher

Isabel Couto

Hours

Weekly - A definir após escolha da especialidade

Total - 62

Teaching language

Portuguese

Prerequisites

Not applicable

Bibliography

Reviews and other scientific articles, to be suggested by teachers, according to the topics covered.
• Patricia, M. Tille. (2013) Bailey and Scott's Diagnostic Microbiology. Elsevier, 13ª Ed.
• Madigan, M., Martinko, J., Bender, K., Buckley, D. and Stahl, D. (2015) Brock Biology of Microorganisms. Pearson Education Ltd, England, 14th Ed.
• Larry, S., Peters, J. E., Henkin, T. M. and Champness, W. (2013). Molecular Genetics of Bacteria. ASM Press, 4th Ed.
• Flint, S.J., Enquist, L.W., Racaniello, V.R., Skalka, A.M. (2009). Principles of Virology. ASM Press, Washington, DC, 3ª Ed. (2 vols.).
• Knipe, D.M. and Howley, P.M. (Ed). (2013) FIELDS Virology, 6th Ed. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
• Barroso, H., Meliço-Silvestre, A. and Taveira, N. (Eds). 2014. Microbiologia Médica. Lidel, Lisboa.

Teaching method

The Curricular Unit "Applications in Medical Microbiology" is mainly experimental and based on the rotation of the students between different laboratories of the UEI of Medical Microbiology. At the beginning of the CU, each student should choose three laboratories to work with, staying one week (20h) in each laboratory, where he/she will participate in work in progress, executing different steps (typically including an introduction to the topic, laboratory work and data analysis).
After the three laboratory rotations, the student should draw and write an experimental protocol related to his/her thesis topic or in a topic to be defined. The protocol (max 15 pages) should include introduction, detailed description of the experimental component, justification and critical analysis of the approach chosen and bibliographical references. The protocol will be evaluated by the responsible of the Curricular Unit and a teacher of the specific area.

Evaluation method

The overall evaluation at the Curricular Unit will be established by the evaluation of the written protocol (55%), as well as the evaluation of the student´s performance in the 3 laboratories (15% each), taking into account the student´s preparation of the work, the attention and participation in the laboratory work, the critical analysis of the work done and the results obtained.

Subject matter

I. Laboratory rotations between different research teams of the Unit of Medical Microbiology, exemplifying different applications and ongoing studies, which include:
II. Rapid screening and laboratorial diagnosis of tuberculosis.
III. Characterization of antimicrobial resistance in pathogenic bacteria.
IV. Screening sexually transmitted infections.
V. Leptospirosis and Lyme disease – emerging diseases.
VI. Study of cellular oncogene splicing alterations induced by hepatitis delta virus (HDV) infection.
VII. Genetic diversity and antiretroviral resistance in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1).
VIII. Molecular detection and genetic characterization (by phylogenetic inference) of flavivirus, phlebovirus and circovirus genomes in hematophagous arthropods and/or human samples.

Programs

Programs where the course is taught: