MF9195 OMICs in medical research

University of Oslo, Faculty of Medicine

Course content

The purpose of the course is to introduce the use of various Omics technologies, which aim to collectively characterize pools of biological molecules in a single experiment. The focus is Omics technologies in medical research today and tomorrow. The understanding of strengths and limitation of Omics technologies is fundamental for the selection of appropriate analyses and for the interpretation of results obtained.

The course will be based on selected clinical problems and present different experimental strategies, including a description on the principles behind the methods. The strengths and weaknesses of each technology will be discussed with a focus on the decisions that guide the choice of an experimental strategy. Hands on sessions in computational data analyses can be included in order to train in performing experiments in given technologies.

The candidate will learn about selected Omics technologies and their strengths and limitations. The candidate will also learn underlying principles of these technologies and how to critically judge the robustness of the Omics data.

Learning outcome

This course will give you knowledge about:

• Overview of genome variation in the population including technologies to detect these
• Understanding how High-throughput DNA sequencing (HTS) can be used to identify disease causing genetic variants in monogenic diseases
• Understanding how GWAS can detect disease associated markers in multifactorial diseases
• Understanding how HTS technologies can be used to explore changes in gene expression
• Understanding how metagenomics can be used to explore the gut microbiome
• Understanding how mass-spectrometry (MS) analyses can be used in quantitative and qualitative proteomics experiments
• Understanding how MS analyses can be used in metabolomics experiments
• Understanding principles behind data management, which includes acquiring, storing, protecting, and processing data
• Understanding principles behind basic data analysis tasks in Omics, and the integration of Omics data
• Application of various Omics technologies
• Critical selection of Methods

Teaching

The course will run for 5 full days.

Teaching is mainly by lectures. There may also be group work with hands on training on computers in a PC room.

Examination

Home exam to be submitted two weeks after the course.

Admission to the course

Applicants admitted to a PhD programme at UiO sign up for classes and exam to this course in StudentWeb.

Applicants who are not admitted to a PhD programme at UiO must apply for a right to study before they can sign up for classes and exam to this course. See information here: How to apply for a right to study and admission to elective PhD courses in medicine and health sciences..

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