Genomic and Proteomic Approaches to Complex Heart, Lung, Blood, & Sleep Disorders

This highly acclaimed course covers the application of statistics, molecular biology and genetics to the analysis of complex diseases such as asthma, hypertension and coronary heart disease. Both human and animal model data are presented and considered in depth.

Students learn to detect the genetic basis of disease, perform linkage analysis, conduct genome scans, analyze quantitative trait loci, detect gene interactions, map complex disease genes and clone genes. Emphasis is also placed on how to characterize gene function using the latest in biochemical and molecular genetic techniques. Contemporary approaches to gene discovery such as mutagenesis, microarray analysis, comparative genomics and SNP discovery and analysis are also covered. Social and ethical issues surrounding the generation and use of genetic information are discussed during the course.

Intensive hands-on workshops further expose students to the bioinformatics tools such as: Omim, MGD, Unigene, GeneBank, Blast, Gene-scan, SwissProt and Entrez.

The formal lectures, discussion groups, demonstrations and tutorials, study sessions, recreational activities and informal residential interaction provide a unique and varied learning opportunity. The course is limited to 35-40 students to provide informal and meaningful interaction with the entire group.

CME Information

Eastern Maine Medical Center designates this educational activity for a maximum of 64 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits ^TM. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Eastern Maine Medical Center is accredited by the Maine Medical Association’s Committee on Continuing Medical Education to provide Continuing Medical Education (CME) to practicing physicians.

The 2009 faculty list is currently under development.  Prior year speakers included:

Terri Beaty, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University
Eugene Bleecker, M.D., Wake Forest University
Molly Bogue, Ph.D., The Jackson Laboratory
Carol Bult, Ph.D., The Jackson Laboratory
Gary Churchill, Ph.D., The Jackson Laboratory
Andrew Greene, Ph.D., Medical College of Wisconsin
Ross Hardison, Ph.D, Pennsylvania State University
Gregory Hawkins, Ph.D., Wake Forest University
Joachim Herz, M.D., UT Southwestern
Naftali Kaminski, M.D., University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Benjamin King, B.S., The Jackson Laboratory
Renhua Li, The Jackson Laboratory
Donna Maglott, Ph.D., National Center for Biotechnology Information, NIH
Deborah Meyers, Ph.D., Wake Forest University
Debbie Nickerson, Ph.D., University of Washington
Allan Pack, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania
Beverly Paigen, Ph.D., The Jackson Laboratory
Barry Paw, M.D., Ph.D., Brigham & Women's Hospital 
Luanne Peters, Ph.D., The Jackson Laboratory
David Shaw, M.S., The Jackson Laboratory
Karen Svenson, B.A., The Jackson Laboratory
Donata Vercelli, M.D., University of Arizona, Arizona Respiratory Center
Jianfeng Xu, M.D., Ph.D., Wake Forest University

We are pleased to announce that there will be no increase in the registration fee this year!

Registration fee: $1,750.00; students $1,200.00. The fee includes lodging and meals.

Applicants need to possess a doctoral degree or equivalent. Placement is limited to 40 participants so early application is advised. 

To apply for this course, please:

- Submit an online application form (opens in a new window)
  If you have any problems with this form, please contact Laura Lelansky at 207-288-6419

- Send a brief curriculum vitae, 2 page maximum by email attachment to Laura Lelansky

- Post-doctoral fellows must have their supervisor send a recommendation letter by email to Laura Lelansky

Scholarships may be available on a limited basis to help post-doctoral fellows with travel expenses. To help ensure adequate representation by under-represented populations in the life sciences,  gender and minority status will be considered.

Applications by women, minorities in the life sciences, and persons with disabilities are strongly encouraged.

Accepted applicants will be provided with registration information.