Biomedical Sciences and Translational Medicine MRes

The MRes in Biomedical Sciences and Translational Medicine provides students with high level research training within the Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Medicine (ISMIB). Our aim is to develop research knowledge, skills and attributes including confidence and expertise, to contribute to the pursuit of further study or undertake roles academia, the health sector and industry/education/service sectors in general. The programme is suitable for bioscience graduates, intercalating medical and veterinary students, and science graduates interesting in training in biological sciences. Students will become full members of a research group and take advantage of relevant first-class facilities and an active research environment.

This is a 40 credit module that gives direct authentic research experience. The module represents the first part of a two-part research project within the MRes in Biomedical Science and Translational Medicine programme. The teaching approach relies upon research-connected and enquiry-based learning with authentic assessments in the form of scientific reports, scientific presentations, continual assessment of the student’s performance (Hallmarks of the Liverpool Curriculum Framework).

This is a 30-credit taught module that develops the fundamental practical and theoretical skills required for laboratory-based research. Assessment of the module is via written reviews and critical evaluations of published literature.

​This 15-credit module develops the essential skills required for success in biomedical research and related careers. Assessment is via written grant applications, business plans and portfolios, and by oral presentations.

Modern biotechnology and bioimaging applies novel tools and approaches to address today’s global challenges.
You will learn a variety of methods in mammalian cell biotechnology as well as imaging technologies that range from the microscopic scale to cellular and organ imaging in vivo. You will develop knowledge of a diversity of cell analysis techniques. Furthermore, the use of reporter genes for various types of imaging will be explained, including imaging technologies for cell analysis on the microscopic level as well as for cell imaging and functional analysis in animal models of disease.

The lectures will convey basic knowledge and include examples of applications from actual research publications, or the lecturer’s own research work, in equal measure. The students will have learning tutorials on critical appraisal of literature. There will also be a practical workshop on contemporary microscopy.
The module will be taught through a combination of lectures, workshops and practical exercises. There are two written assessments in this module.

This module is aimed at postgraduate students in the Life Sciences, wishing to learn about methods for use in data-intensive research. The module provides a broad introduction to the use of Python coding for performing basic tasks in the biological sciences. The student will get practical experience in writing their own Python scripts for basic bioinformatics tasks, such as manipulating DNA, RNA and protein sequences, file input/output and working with other programs, such as BLAST. There is also an introduction to data visualisation using Python, and simple techniques used in data science, including a basic introduction to machine learning.

Around 10 hours of lectures will be provided on core topics, with a strong emphasis on practical activity in workshops (totalling around 40 hours), allowing students to gain confidence in writing scripts for their own tasks. The module will be assessed by two short coding assignments, one team working coding assignment building a bioinformatics pipeline, and a data science mini-project.

The MRes in Biomedical Sciences and Translational Medicine provides students with high level research training within the Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Medicine (ISMIB). Our aim is to develop research knowledge, skills and attributes including confidence and expertise, to contribute to the pursuit of further study or undertake roles academia, the health sector and industry/education/service sectors in general. The Programme is suitable for bioscience graduates, intercalating medical and veterinary students, and science graduates interesting in training in biological sciences. Students will become full members of a research group and take advantage of relevant first-class facilities and an active research environment. This module along with the 40 credit Biomedical Sciences & Translational Medicine Research Project 1 (BIOM 703) is designed to allow for parity of experience between the part-time and full-time programmes and clear progression of research education.

This is an 80-credit module that gives direct hands-on research experience. The module represents the second part of a two-part research project within the MRes in Biomedical Science and Translational Medicine programme. The teaching approach relies upon research-led and enquiry-based learning with authentic assessments in the form of scientific reports, scientific presentations and continual assessment of the student’s performance (Hallmarks of the Liverpool Curriculum Framework).

This is a 30-credit taught module that develops the fundamental practical and theoretical skills required for laboratory-based research. Assessment of the module is via written reviews and critical evaluations of published literature.

​This 15-credit module develops the essential skills required for success in biomedical research and related careers. Assessment is via written grant applications, business plans and portfolios, and by oral presentations.

Clinical trials are the key final step to translate medical research into the benefit of patients. The Liverpool Clinical Trials Unit is one of the largest in the UK, running a wide variety of surgical and oncology studies, that range from phase I studies to large, practice-changing phase III studies, as well as more novel trial designs. Since new therapies have become available in the treatment of cancer, the methods used in clinical trials have also evolved. The module in Cancer Clinical Trials is aimed at developing the knowledge and understanding of decisions affecting the design, delivery and assessment of clinical trials. This module will be taught by clinicians, researchers, statisticians and trial methodologists at the Liverpool Trials Unit, and cover fundamentals of clinical trials and designs, as well as the challenges that arise at each of these strategies. The module in Cancer Clinical Trials is ideal for current in-service health professionals looking to broaden their role in the design, management, analysis and reporting of clinical trials. It is also suited to those wishing to gain an understanding of clinical trials. The module will be taught through a combination of lectures, case-based learning tutorials and workshops, and assessed via a poster presentation and a written assessment, involving the design of a clinical trial.

The module will address three main topics: hallmarks of cancer, cancer diagnosis and biomarkers, and cancer therapies & current challenges. These topics will be taught using various cancer models that have been selected based on the expertise at the University of Liverpool and to illustrate research, diagnostic and therapeutic problems.

This module will be taught by both scientists and clinicians who are experts in cancer research. The module will be taught through a combination of lectures, seminars, case-based learning tutorials and workshops. The lectures will convey basic knowledge and include examples of applications from actual research publications and the lecturer’s own research work.

The students will take part in case-based learning tutorials on critical appraisal of scientific seminars provided by cancer researchers. Workshops will cover literature search, referencing, and preparation of oral scientific presentations in preparation for the final assignment which is a conference style talk. A practical workshop will also cover tumour pathology and will train students in the identification and interpretation of tumour biopsies.

The module will be assessed via two assessments. The first assessment consists of a seminar report, based on a pre-recorded seminar provided by a cancer researcher. The final assessment will be an oral presentation, in which students will be required to give a conference-style lecture on an emerging cancer research topic related to one of the lectures and provide an abstract of their presentation.

This is a key module for students on the MSc Infection and Immunity Programme and might also be taken by other MSc, MBioSci and MRes students whose interests include infection and immunology. The module is topical in light of the pandemic and will address areas of research-connected immunology teaching across areas of broad relevance to infectious disease, as well as to coronavirus. The module includes research connected lectures, workshops and structured discussions on selected texts as student-led seminars. The content will focus on areas of immunology that support the programme and are relevant in that: (i) they are current/topical or (ii) they address fundamental questions of general importance. In addition, students will also be supported with key research and ideas in immune mechanisms and host defence, showing how research fields progress and our understanding of defence mechanisms develop. The module assessments are aimed at: 1) using graphics to show illustratively specific and complex immunological host-pathogen interactions and will aid skills in image design; and 2) poster presentation to demonstrate immunological interactions based on the student-led workshops on host defence and microbial evasion.

Proteomics and metabolomics represent powerful tools towards unbiased, quantitative and high-throughput analysis of biological systems. Rapid “omic” technological developments in the post‐genomic era have provided insights into protein structures, biosynthesis and interactions, as well as the complex metabolic processes that are of significant importance in biological and medical research. The aims of this course are to provide a comprehensive understanding of proteomic and metabolomic techniques and related data analysis, and to illustrate how they can be applied in fundamental biological research and industrial applications. The module will be taught by lectures and workshops. The module will be assessed via two a scientific reports.

Synthetic Biology and Biotechnology will provide an in-depth understanding of the grand challenges in biotechnological applications and the principles underlying synthetic biology and modern biotechnological techniques that are designed to sustainably address specific problems. The module also aims to teach tools and strategies being developed and applied in the rapidly expanding field of synthetic biology and train students with practical experience in green biotechnology.

The module will be taught through a combination of lectures and workshops. The lectures will convey basic knowledge or the lecturer’s own research work. The workshops will provide students with the opportunity to analyse relevant data relevant to the biotechnology field. The module will be assessed via a scientific report and a scientific review.