BIOE 301 - Bioengineering and World Health

Course Syllabus

---

**Click here to download a printer friendly version of the syllabus.

Course Description:

This course provides an overview of contemporary technological advances to improve human health. We will consider four questions throughout the semester:

(1) What are the problems in healthcare today?
(2) Who pays to solve problems in healthcare?
(3) How can we use science and technology to solve healthcare problems?
(4) Once developed, how do new healthcare technologies move from the lab to the bedside?

We will compare and contrast answers to these questions throughout the developed and developing worlds. We will also consider legal and ethical issues associated with developing new medical technologies. During the semester, we will use case studies to examine a number of diseases and healthcare technologies. The course stresses active learning with many web-based and group activities. Students will choose a disease and a health technology they are interested in to examine in more detail.

This course satisfies the Group 3 Distribution Requirement

Pre-Requisites: None

Meeting Times and Location: T TH 9:25-10:40 KH 100

Office Hours and Location:

Course Web Site:
www.owlnet.rice.edu/~bioe301
On Owlspace: https://owlspace-ccm.rice.edu/portal

Course Instructors:
Team teaching by various senior graduate students and postdocs from various departments

Teaching Assistants:
Mohammed Rahman
Lissett Bickford

Course Objectives:

At the conclusion of the course, you will be able to:

1. Discuss the major human health problems in the world today
   
   1. Describe the function of the World Health Organization.
   2. Define and calculate incidence, morbidity, and mortality.
   3. Contrast health problems in the developing and developed worlds.
   4. Describe the pathophysiology of the three leading causes of death in the developing and developed worlds.
   5. Describe the Grand Challenges in Global Health which can have the greatest impact on health in developing nations.
   
   
2. Discuss who pays for health care in the world today.
   1. Contrast the multi-payer US system with the single payer Canadian system.
   2. Contrast the availability of healthcare in the developed and developing worlds.
   3. Describe how health care expenditures have changed over time.
   4. Describe the major contributors to health care costs.
   5. Describe the efforts to reform Medicare funded health care in Oregon.
   
   
3. Discuss the process of medical technology development
   1. Describe the scientific method.
   2. Describe the engineering design method.
   3. Contrast the scientific method and the engineering design method.
   4. Describe the steps of technology assessment.
   5. Critically analyze a cost/benefit analysis for a new medical technology from the point of view of:
      1. Patient
      2. Payer
      3. Society
   
   
4. Describe the engineering development and assessment of technologies to address the following clinical needs:
   1. Prevention of infectious diseases
      1. Disease causing microorganisms
      2. Immunity
      3. How do vaccines work?
      4. Pathophysiology of HIV infection
      5. HIV Vaccine Development
         1. Gene therapy for prevention of HIV infection
         2. Clinical trials of HIV vaccines
         3. Costs of HIV vaccines
         4. Cost-effectiveness of HIV vaccines
   2. Early detection of cancer
      1. Pre-cancer and cancer transformation
      2. Detection of morphologic changes
         1. Pap smear - world impact, sensitivity and specificity
         2. New optical technologies for cancer imaging - sample size calculation
      3. Molecular biology of cancer
      4. Detection of molecular changes - serum biomarkers of cancer
         1. PSA - patient outcomes
         2. CA125 - patient outcomes
      5. Gene chips for molecular characterization of cancer
   3. Treatment of heart disease
      1. The circulatory system
      2. Atherosclerosis
      3. MI
      4. Treatments for atherosclerosis
         1. CABG - Patient outcomes
         2. PTCA - Additive costs
         3. Laser Angioplasty - Moving target problem
      5. Heart failure
      6. Treatment for heart failure
         1. Transplant
         2. Total artificial heart
         3. LVAD
   
   
5. Describe how clinical trials are designed, conducted and evaluated.
   1. Types of research involving humans
   2. What is a clinical trial?
      1. What is a sample size?
      2. Calculate a sample size
      3. Quantitative methods to describe clinical trials
   
   
6. Ethics of clinical research
   1. Recognize some of the ethical violations in research that influenced the development of ethical principles and legal requirements currently governing research with human subjects.
   2. Understand the ethical guidelines for the conduct of research involving humans
   3. What is informed consent?
   4. Who can give informed consent?
   
   
7. Describe how medical technologies are managed.
   1. Describe how health care research is funded.
   2. Describe the role of the FDA in approving new drugs and medical devices.
   3. Describe the factors which affect the diffusion of a new medical technology.
   4. Contrast the diffusion of vitamin C to treat scurvy, laparoscopic cholecystectomy and MRI.
   
   
8. Apply these principles to critically analyze a new medical technology in current development

 

Method of Instruction:

The course will consist of two lectures per week.

Method of Evaluation:

Daily reading and weekly homework will be assigned. Students will design a clinical trial to test a new technology. Three one-hour exams and a comprehensive final exam will be given.

Textbooks:

This semester, we will pilot test the draft of a new textbook entitled "Biotechnology & World Health". The text can be found on our course web site.

Homework:

The purpose of homework in this course is to give you practice in solving problems and to amplify concepts introduced in the lecture. Homework assignments must be typed and are due at the beginning of class on Tuesday. Late assignments will only be worth 50% of actual grade and will only be accepted one past the actual deadline. Homework should be your own, but general methods of working problems may be discussed with others.

Exams:

Three exams will be given in class throughout the semester. A comprehensive final exam will also be given.

Grading:

Final grades will be based on performance on the homework, projects, hour exams and final. The weight of each in determining your grade will be as follows:

The lowest hour exam score can be replaced with the score on the final exam if it is to the student's advantage. No makeup exams will be given. If you believe that a mistake has been made in grading your homework or exam, you have ONE WEEK to request a regrade in writing. After one week has passed we will not consider any requests to regrade your work.

Honor System Policy:

As with all endeavors at Rice, you are expected to adhere to the Honor Code and follow the guidelines given in the Blue Book. Exams are given under the honor system. Students are encouraged to work together collaboratively on the projects, but each student is expected to contribute an equal share to the final project. Students are encouraged to bring any concerns involving academic integrity to the attention of the instructor. More information can be found at www.ruf.rice.edu/~honor.

Disabilities:

If you have a documented disability that requires accommodation, please let me know so that we can confidentially discuss your needs. You will also need to register with the Disability Support Services Office in the Ley Student Center.

Evaluation:

The course will be evaluated using the standard course instructor survey materials.