|
General
information
The
Doctorate in Genetics, Oncology and Clinical Medicine
at the
University of Siena trains students to
carry out
research
in Medical Genetics, Oncological
Genetics, and Oncological Surgery over a three year program.
The aim of this
Doctoral
School
is to train researchers that will be able to plan and develop
competitive research proposals.
After the
Doctoral
School they
may follow an academic career in an Italian or a foreign
University, or may work in research-oriented public or private
institutions.
The
main
aim of
medical
research
is to define the molecular basis of diseases and to translate the
scientific knowledge in concrete applications for diagnosis,
prevention and treatment of diseases.
Program:
Educational training of the doctoral school is divided into eight
educational training:
The Doctorate is aimed to educate students on the molecular basis
and clinical, diagnostic, and therapeutic aspects of monogenic and
multifactorial diseases (resulting from the interaction between
genes and environment), including cancer.
The Doctorate is divided into eight educational trainings:
1)
Medical Genetics, focused on the genetics and physiopathology
of intellectual disabilities, hereditary tumours and rare syndromes;
2) Genetics and physiopathology of skeletal disorders,
focused on the genetics and physiopathology of osteopathies;
3) Genetics and physiopathology of atherosclerosis,
focused on the genetics and physiopathology of cardiovascular and
atherothrombosis-related diseases;
4) Pharmacogenetics and clinical pharmacology,
focused on the knowledge of how drugs vary with patient’s genome and
aimed to develop “individual” therapies;
5) Surgical oncology, focused on
clinical-epidemiological-observational studies of thoracic and
intestinal tumors;
6) Hematological and dermatological oncology, focused
on clinical-epidemiological-observational studies of melanoma and
blood tumors;
7) Oncological Genetics, focused on the identification
of new targets and diagnostic, prognostic and predictive markers for
oncological therapies;
8) Clinical Immunology, focused on the molecular basis
and clinical aspects of rare immunological disorders such as
idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis,
alpha 1-antitrypsin
deficiency and
rare autoimmune rheumatic diseases.
The PhD student will
acquire theoretical and practical knowledge on the latest molecular
techniques such as “array-CGH”, “next generation sequencing” and
“genetic reprogramming” that allows to obtain iPS (indiced
Pluripotent Stem cells) from adult human fibroblasts and to
differentiate them into neurones or other cellular types
(educational training in Medical Genetics). A specific educational
training focused on pharmacogenomics is aimed to the identification
of a personalized therapy for each individual (educational training
in Pharmacogenetics and clinical pharmacology). Particular attention
will be given to the molecular basis and therapeutic strategies of
cancer. The PhD student will be able to: i) carry out
clinical-epidemiological-observational studies of thoracic and
intestinal cancers (educational training in Surgical oncology), of
melanomas and oncohemophaties (educational training in Hematological
oncology and dermatological oncology); ii) choose the appropriate
molecular methods to identify new targets for the design of targeted
therapies and new diagnostic, prognostic and predictive markers for
therapy response (educational training in Oncological Genetics). One
educational training, focused on Clinical Immunology, will train
researchers capable of developing research projects concerning rare
diseases including immune idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis,
emphysema-alpha-1-antitrypsin deficit and rare autoimmune and
autoinflammatory rheumatic diseases. This educational training will
also train researches with pre-clinical and clinical expertise to
develop new targeted therapeutic agents and new strategies for
cancer immunotherapy.
Students will be
attending only one of the above mentioned courses, at the end of
which they will obtain the PhD title in Oncology and Genetics.
Starting
from the first year, students
will
develop their own research, under the direction of a supervisor
chosen among the Faculty Board of the Doctoral
School.
Laboratory spaces
available for students are located at 1st floor 3rd block
(Laboratory of Medical Genetics with 20 workstations) and at ground
floor educational block (Laboratory of Biomedical Technologies and
Experimental Oncology with 18 workstations) of Policlinico S Maria
alle Scotte, viale Bracci 2, Siena and inside Toscana Life Sciences
(TLS) Foundation, via Torre Fiorentina 1 (ITT Core Research
Laboratory, Signal Transduction Unit).
Detailed laboratory description
PhD
students of Sections 1 and 2 will use the current techniques of
molecular genetics and cell biology and laboratory activities will
cover 70% of the time. Students will spend about 20% of the time in
the ambulatory, where they will experience
genetic counseling and
have
direct contact with patients bearing the specific disease (on which
the research project will be designed). The remaining 10% of the
time will be devoted to lessons and seminars held by Faculty Board
or foreign professors (see below “seminars” for those already held).
Students
are encouraged to undertake periods of research in foreign academic
institutions, as long as it helps them make progress in their
research; for this purpose, they
will
receive financial support from the University of Siena (see below).
PhD
students of Sections 3 will spend 70% of their time to clinical and
surgery activities, 20% to laboratory activities and 10% to attend
lessons and seminars. They will learn the fundamental diagnostic and
therapeutic approaches to gastric and colorectal cancer.
PhD
students of Sections 4 will spend 50% of their time in clinical and
surgery activities, 40% in laboratory activities and the remaining
10% in lessons and seminars. They will examine clinical, diagnostic
and therapeutic aspects of hepatobiliopancreatic disease and of
multitumoral syndromes.
Every
year, students present the state of their research in a public
seminar. Based on this seminar and on reaching at least
60
credits, it is decided on the admission to the following year.
Credits can be obtained as follows:
- annual
presentation (up to 10 credits)
-
publication on international journal (30
credits if first author,
10
credits if co-author)
-
abstract of meetings (5
credits for international congress,
2
for national congress)
-
laboratory activity during the year (max
10-25
credits per year),
depending on the sections
- genetic
counseling (max 20 credits per year)
- surgery
activity (max 35 credits per year)
- active
participation to lab meetings,
seminars and lessons (1
credit each)
The PhD
is awarded after discussion of an original scientific work. This
must
be written in English.
For
further information:
All
internal decisions about the doctorate are taken by the Faculty
Board (Collegio dei Docenti), whose coordinator is prof. Alessandra
Renieri.
Queries
on matters under the competence of the Collegio and requests for
further information can be addressed to
geneticamed@unisi.it.
|