University of Otago

MICR 334: Advanced Immunology

18 points - Semester 1

Course prescription

Host-pathogen interactions and disease diagnosis, allergy, autoimmunity, tumour and transplant immunology, immunodeficiency and immunoendocrinology. Molecular tools for immunology, fluorescent cell sorting, lymphocyte activation and cytokine assays.

Course overview

Studying the immune system will enable you to understand how our bodies respond to infections, allergens, transplantation and cancer. Central to this is our understanding of how immune systems function and the application of this knowledge in these fields. A course in immunology opens up career possibilities in such fields as diverse as influenza vaccine development, cancer immunology and autoimmunity. 

This course in the Applied and Clinical aspects of immunology will build on your fundamental knowledge of immunology. This paper is ideal if you want to explore and develop your understanding of the immune system, and investigate the application of immunology knowledge at the interface between disease and the host response to disease.

Lecture course overview

Comparative Immunology

Antigen Recognition and Presentation

Immune Development

Molecular Immunology

B Cells

Immune Regulation

Vaccines

Lab course overview:

Cancer Immunotherapy
In these labs, you will work in groups to design and carry out an immunotherapy for melanoma. You will design an experimental approach to treat melanoma, prepare the treatment and measure its effectiveness. Several protocols will be provided to help you.

Assessment:

1. Laboratory-based assessment (30%)

2. Final written exam (70%)

Course prerequisites

MICR 221 and 223 or MICR 201 and MICR 202

BBiomedSc students are permitted to take MICR 334 without the MICR 221 prerequisite

Course Timetable

Lectures:
Tuesday, Friday 13:00 – 13:50, QUAD4

Practical:
Tuesday 14:00 – 17:50, Wednesday 09:00 – 17:50*
Labs are held in room 302, Microbiology building

*you can leave the Wednesday lab session to attend other courses as needed.

Immunology labs run weeks 5 – 8 of Semester 1.  

Note: there are no lecture or practical clashes between any of the 300-level MICR papers

Textbooks

Essential text:
Immunobiology: the immune system in health and disease (7th or 8th Edition). Janeway C. and Travers P, Blackwell Scientific Publications

Recommended text:
Cellular and Molecular Immunology (5th or 6th Edition). Abbas A. and Lichtman A, Elsevier Saunders.

Teaching staff

For more information on this course, please contact the Course Convenor Frank Griffin (479-7718, frank.griffin@otago.ac.nz) 

To find out information on the fees, click here.