Ateneo - UPO

The students will learn the basis of mucosal immunity, the pathogenesis of inflammatory skin disorders, either autoimmune disorders or allergies, and the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying wound healing.

The slides of the lectures and additional material, such as selected scientific papers and laboratory protocols will be available to students.

For background knowledge, we recommend the following text books:
Abul Abbas Andrew H. Lichtman Shiv Pillai. Cellular and Molecular Immunology, 10th Edition.
Lauren Sompayrac. How the Immune System Works. Wiley Blackwell.

The course aims to:
- provide students with a comprehensive knowledge of skin immunity and of the pathological mechanisms underpinning the most common skin disorders.
- provide students with the competences to address unmet clinical needs by suggesting experimental approaches that could be taken to identify new targets/approaches and to analyse their therapeutic potential.

Basic knowledge of cell biology and immunology is mandatory and can be acquired by pre-course intensive tutoring.
Anatomy, physiology and molecular biology are recommended.

Lectures, seminars held by experts in the field, flipped classroom based on journal club discussion, lab practical.

Students with physical disabilities, Learning Disabilities or Special Education Needs can request specific services and tools via the Staff "Sviluppo e Coordinamento Carriere e Servizi alle Studentesse e agli Studenti", consulting the University webpage: https://www.uniupo.it/en/services/services-students-physical-or-learning-disabilities
Students with disabilities, learning disabilities or special education needs, once they have contacted the University Staff, can refer to the tutor in charge of the course to define the examination modalities, concerning academic aspects.

The exam will be aimed at evaluating the knowledge and notions acquired during the lectures and selected seminars. The exam will be a written test composed of 4 open questions (answers of 150-200 words maximum) and 10 multiple choices and true/false questions (with one true answer). The questions will be aimed at evaluating knowledge and understanding of the topics addressed during the lecturers and the ability to discuss the topics critically and concisely by using specific scientific and technical language.
At each open question a maximum score of 5 points will be assigned. For multiple choice and true/false questions, 1 point will be obtained for the correct answer, whereas wrong or blank answers will be evaluated 0 points (maximum score will be 30 points).
Teams composed of 3-4 students/each will have to prepare a journal club presentation. A list of research manuscripts that falls into the topics discussed during skin pathology lectures will be provided. However, students might discuss additional original research articles, provided that the manuscript is approved by lecturer. The scientific paper will be discussed with all classmates – who will gain valuable insights into the different topics - and lecturer, who will evaluate the students work. Each student might be awarded with a maximum score of 3 points that will be added to the score of the written test.

Skin immunity.
Overview of the immunological anatomy of the epidermis and derma biology under steady state, wound healing and skin disorders. Discussion of research articles
Porta C. (frontal lessons)
Infectious skin diseases.
Pathogenic mechanisms underpinning the most common bacterial, fungal and viral (HPV, HSV, MCV) skin infections. Discussion of research articles.
Porta C. (frontal lessons and seminars)
Inflammatory skin disorders.
Pathogenesis, current therapeutic options and new potential therapeutic targets of the major autoimmune and inflammatory diseases of the skin and the skin appendages, including alopecia areata, vitiligo, psoriasis, atopic dermatitis and acne vulgaris. Discussion of research articles.
Porta C. (frontal lessons and seminars)

At the end of the course, the student will acquire theoretical knowledge and understanding of cellular and molecular mechanisms underpinning cutaneous immunity, pathogenesis of inflammatory and infectious skin disorders.
The student will acquire the specific scientific terminology and application of the acquired knowledge to critically analyse and discuss clinical and experimental data in the field of skin immunity and disorders.
Finally, the student will gain competence to conceptually design small research projects aimed to: 1) discover new targets, 2) study the therapeutic potential of a given target 3) evaluate new approaches to target key pathogenic events.