This course will focus on reviewing scientific articles that use biochemistry and/or cell biology to help better understand human diseases. Emphasis will be on published scholarly work that provides examples of translational medicine or “bench-to-bedside” approach, which aims to expedite the discovery of new diagnostics and treatments.

– The first session will be an intro by both of us (~1h) followed by a discussion led by us about a paper (~1h).

– The intro will include some tips on how to present an article, etc.

– The other sessions will be 2 x 1 h sessions where one student presents a recent paper that provides an exciting example of an application of biochemistry to translational medicine (a second student will present another article during the second hour).

– Each student will be free to choose an article themselves or use one from the bank of articles provided by us (typically a very recent article published in of-of the top journals, such as Cell, Science, Nature, Nat Med, Nat Genetics, JCI, Sci Translat Med, etc.).

– Each student will also have to provide a short write-up (max 250 words) about the article presented that would be an abstract that could be read by a layperson (i.e., grade 7-8 education) + a relevant title. This is an important exercise because it is required for most grants that anyone submits.

– The format delineated above may need to be slightly amended depending on the number of students who end up enrolling for the class and do not withdraw.