Admission requirements
Core course in MSc Life Science and Technology - biomedical sciences, elective course in MSc Chemistry.
For students with a BSc LST, BFW or equivalent. MST students who want to join require proof of an understanding of immunology, which can be obtained through passing the equivalent of the LST bachelor immunology exam prior to the course (the teacher can be contacted to arrange this). Prior to the start of the course, the students will need to read the first six chapters of ‘Janeway’s Immunobiology’ or the entirety of Sompayrac’s ‘How The Immune System Works’ to ensure a thorough understanding of the fundamentals of immunology that form the basis of the course. This material will also be part of the final exam.
Description
The aim of the course is to make students familiar with the most recent immune-based therapies from a molecular perspective. The course introduces recent therapeutic advances that have emerged from the controlled manipulation of the immune system. Advances in the field of cancer-immunotherapy, auto-immune disease treatment, cell-based therapies, and modern vaccinology will be discussed, as well as recent development in the use of antibodies to treat disease, including their production, chemical modification to attach drugs and other cargos, and some biotechnology to make them better.
Due to the very fast moving nature of the field, these techniques will be explained against the backdrop of the recent immunological literature. The course will be taught as a combination of lectures as well as a discussion of recent literature. In addition, question sets will be provided for self-assessment.
Course objectives
At the end of the course students
Demonstrate knowledge of fundamental principles of immunology, including concepts from the Immunobiology textbook and the fundamental techniques and biochemistry underpinning methods discussed.;
Apply understanding of antibody therapeutic production, their mechanisms of action, and applications to hypothetical case studies or real-world scenarios not encountered during the class;
Demonstrate knowledge of the principles underlying cell-based, and vaccine-based cancer immune therapies (e.g., checkpoint inhibitors, T-cell therapies, chimeric T-cells, personalized cancer vaccines) and analyze their efficacy in clinical contexts;
Can analyze the contents of a therapeutic or prophylactic vaccine and explain the role of each of the components in the vaccine
Can read, digest, and criticse primary chemical immunology literature and extract the core information on the described methods, and the efficacy of a treatment from the literature.
Timetable
Schedule information can be found on the website of the programmes.
In MyTimetable, you can find all course and programme schedules, allowing you to create your personal timetable. Activities for which you have enrolled via MyStudyMap will automatically appear in your timetable.
Additionally, you can easily link MyTimetable to a calendar app on your phone, and schedule changes will be automatically updated in your calendar. You can also choose to receive email notifications about schedule changes. You can enable notifications in Settings after logging in.
Questions? Watch the video, read the instructions, or contact the ISSC helpdesk.
Note: Joint Degree students from Leiden/Delft need to combine information from both the Leiden and Delft MyTimetables to see a complete schedule. This video explains how to do it.
Mode of instruction
The course will be taught through a series of live lectures followed by a tutorial session for which a set of questions will have to be made each week. These questions are an obligatory part of the course and not doing them before the tutorials will mean exclusion from the final exam. None of the lectures or tutorials will be made in recorded format.
Assessment method
Final written exam (100%)
Reading list
The course is based on the following book: ‘Janeway’s immunobiology’, 10th edition. Norton Publisher.
Slides/videos presented during the courses
Articles discussed and cited during the course
Question sets and their associated answers.
Registration
As a student, you are responsible for enrolling on time through MyStudyMap.
In this short video, you can see step-by-step how to enrol for courses in MyStudyMap.
Extensive information about the operation of MyStudyMap can be found here.
There are two enrolment periods per year:
Enrolment for the fall opens in July
Enrolment for the spring opens in December
See this page for more information about deadlines and enrolling for courses and exams.
Note:
It is mandatory to enrol for all activities of a course that you are going to follow.
Your enrolment is only complete when you submit your course planning in the ‘Ready for enrolment’ tab by clicking ‘Send’.
Not being enrolled for an exam/resit means that you are not allowed to participate in the exam/resit.
Contact
Remarks
According to OER article 4.8, students are entitled to view their marked examination for a period of 30 days following the publication of the results of a written examination. Students should contact the lecturer to make an appointment for such an inspection session.
Software
Starting from the 2024/2025 academic year, the Faculty of Science will use the software distribution platform Academic Software. Through this platform, you can access the software needed for specific courses in your studies. For some software, your laptop must meet certain system requirements, which will be specified with the software. It is important to install the software before the start of the course. More information about the laptop requirements can be found on the student website.