BME 499: Introduction to Bioengineering in Medicine

Syllabus - 2016 Fall

Prof. Keyue Shen
1. Basic Course Information
Introduction to Bioengineering in Medicine
Course name
3
Units
TBA; (TTh, 5:00pm-6:20 pm)
Place and time
Thursday 3:00-4:30pm
Office hour
Keyue Shen, Ph.D.
Instructor
Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Email: keyue.shen@usc.edu
Office: DRB 316
Phone: (213) 740-0380
Fundamentals of Microfabrication and Nanotechnology, 3rd edition, by
Textbook
Marc J. Madou, CRC Press, 2011
The Biology of Cancer, 2nd edition, by Robert A. Weinberg, Garland
Science, 2013
Cellular and Molecular Immunology, 8th edition, by Abul K. Abbas,
Andrew H. H. Lichtman, Shiv Pillai, Saunders, 2014
Relevant reading material and exercises will be provided by the instructor
2. Course Overview and Learning Objectives
Overview: Dis-regulated interactions between cells and their tissue microenvironments often
drive human diseases. Understanding the way cells communicate with each other and
surroundings can enable new development in diagnostics and biomedicine. Bioengineering
offers unique abilities in interrogating diseases and developing novel therapeutics. This
course will introduce students basics of engineering approaches, including micro- and nanotechnologies, microscopy and single-cell techniques, materials and surface chemistry, and
their applications in cancer research and immunotherapies. It will also introduce students
concepts of physiology and pathophysiology, and animal disease models in biomedical
research. This course is designed for undergraduate students who are interested in
contemporary bioengineering research and therapeutic development, as well as pursuing
research in cellular and molecular bioengineering.
Course Objectives: Upon completion of the course, the students will learn the basic
concepts of:
Micro- and nano-technologies.
Microscopy and single-cell techniques
Materials and surface chemistry
Physiology, pathology, and animal disease models.
Cancer and immunotherapy.
3. Course Plan
The course plan is designed to introduce basic concepts of bioengineering with focus on
cancer and immunotherapy. The timeline is subject to change, at the instructor's discretion.

Week
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

Date
8/23
8/25
8/30
9/1
9/6
9/8
9/13
9/15
9/20
9/22
9/27
9/29
10/4
10/6
10/11
10/13
10/18
10/20
10/25
10/27
11/1
11/3
11/8
11/10
11/15
11/17
11/22
11/24
11/29
12/1
12/6
12/8

Day
T
Th
T
Th
T
Th
T
Th
T
Th
T
Th
T
Th
T
Th
T
Th
T
Th
T
Th
T
Th
T
Th
T
Th
T
Th
T
Th

Topic
Introduction
Health and Disease I
Health and Disease II
Microtechnologies I
Microtechnologies II
Nanotechnologies I
Nanotechnologies II
Microscopy I
Microscopy II
Single Cell Techniques I
Single Cell Techniques II
Materials and Surface Chemistry I
Materials and Surface Chemistry II
Animal Models
Midterm exam
Cancer I
Cancer II
Cancer III
Cancer Bioengineering I
Cancer Bioengineering II
Cancer Bioengineering III
Cancer Bioengineering IV
Cancer Bioengineering V
Cancer Bioengineering VI
Immune System I
Immune System II
Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy
No class (Thanksgiving)
Cancer Immunobioengineering I
Cancer Immunobioengineering II
No Class (Study Days)
Final Exam

Activity

HW 1 assigned
HW 1 due

HW 2 assigned
HW 2 due

HW3 assigned
HW3 due

HW4 assigned

HW4 due

4. Assignments
Homework: There will be 4 homework sets which will be assigned a week before they are
due. Assignments are due on the specified dates at the beginning of class in hard copies.
Quizzes: There will be randomly assigned in-class quizzes (up to 4 quizzes). Quizzes are
due in the class. There will be no make-up quizzes.
Midterm Exam: An open-book, in-class midterm exam will cover the topics up to the midterm.
There will be no make-up exam.

Final Exam: An open-book, in-class final exam will cover the topics of the whole semester.
There will be no make-up exam.
5. Grades
Final grades will be based on homework assignments (30%), quizzes (20%), a mid-term
exam (20%), and a final exam (30%). Late homework will only be accepted in cases of
extreme extenuating circumstances, and permission should be obtained from the instructor
before the deadline. Otherwise, points will be reduced by 10% each hour it is late.

Statement for Students with Disabilities

Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to register
with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved
accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure the letter is delivered to me (or to
TA) as early in the semester as possible. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open 8:30 a.m.
5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Website and contact information for DSP:
http://sait.usc.edu/academicsupport/centerprograms/dsp/home_index.html, (213) 740-0776
(Phone), (213) 740-6948 (TDD only), (213) 740-8216 (FAX) ability@usc.edu.
Statement on Academic Integrity
USC seeks to maintain an optimal learning environment. General principles of academic
honesty include the concept of respect for the intellectual property of others, the expectation
that individual work will be submitted unless otherwise allowed by an instructor, and the
obligations both to protect ones own academic work from misuse by others as well as to avoid
using anothers work as ones own. All students are expected to understand and abide by these
principles. SCampus, the Student Guidebook, (www.usc.edu/scampus or
http://scampus.usc.edu) contains the University Student Conduct Code (see University
Governance, Section 11.00), while the recommended sanctions are located in Appendix A.
Emergency Preparedness/Course Continuity in a Crisis
In case of a declared emergency if travel to campus is not feasible, USC executive leadership
will announce an electronic way for instructors to teach students in their residence halls or
homes using a combination of Blackboard, teleconferencing, and other technologies.