Programme Structure
Frequency
All training activities, both frontal in the classroom and experimental in the laboratory, require compulsory attendance. In order to take the relevant exams, students must have attended at least 65% of the lectures in the classroom and at least 80% of the laboratory activities. It is left to each teacher to choose the methods for verifying attendance.
The first year of the programme
The first year of the programme is aimed at conveying specialized biotechnological knowledge in the following learning areas.
Cellular and molecular biotechnology
- Deepen the specialized knowledge of topics related to advanced cellular biotechnologies, ranging from the characterization and application potential of somatic stem cells in human tissues, to the molecular mechanisms underlying differentiation and morphogenesis, up to the study of the characteristics and properties of microbial communities present in the human body, with particular attention to the gut microbiota.
- Deepen the specialized knowledge of topics related to modern molecular biotechnologies in the field of highly productive analytical biochemistry techniques, genetic engineering and molecular biology methods for the production of recombinant proteins and gene therapy applications.
- Provide the student with practical laboratory skills in the different areas of the programme, through the creation of a path of exercises focused on learning how to use the different instrumentation and the associated experimental protocols.
Morphological and functional sciences
- Deepen the knowledge of the morphofunctional aspects of the various organs and systems of the human organism, integrating the structural, macroscopic, microscopic and ultrastructural aspects with the functional ones.
- Deepen the specialized knowledge of topics related to different disciplines in the biological and medical fields, for the adequate understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in the onset and development of human pathologies.
The second year of the programme
The second year of the programme is structured in two parts: a first common training part and a second part divided into two parallel and alternative curricular paths.
The first part covers the following learning areas:
Regulatory, economic and patent aspects
Deepen the specialized knowledge of the methodological, procedural, legislative and managerial aspects underlying the industrial development of modern biotechnologies and their application in the clinical field.
- Deepen the specialized knowledge related to integrated methodological aspects for the analysis and validation of experimental results produced by the application of innovative biotechnologies, supported by the knowledge of computer algorithms and the adequate consideration of bioethical issues.
The second part is divided into a therapeutic curriculum and a diagnostic curriculum, with activities carried out both in the research laboratories of Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore and at Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli - IRCCS, and with internships at companies in the sector.
The training activities will be divided into the following learning areas, respectively:
- Innovative Therapies, Regenerative Medicine and Nanomedicine (therapeutic curriculum)
- Deepen the specialized and multidisciplinary knowledge of the various biotechnologies and nanotechnologies aimed at the development of modern innovative therapies.
- Advanced and high-throughput diagnostics (diagnostic curriculum)
- Deepen the specialized knowledge necessary for the understanding, development and implementation of new technologies for advanced diagnostics in the genomic, anatomical-pathological, biochemical, microbiological and forensic fields.