Public Health Immunology

3 credits · Graduate

This course will be the principal immunology course for students in the field of public health. It is designed to teach both the basic biology of the human immune system and its response in health and disease, especially the specific response of the human immune system to major human pathogens. Four areas will be explored: 1) components of the immune system (spectrum of cell types and cell products); 2) different arms of the immune system including humoral, cell-mediated, innate, and mucosal immunity; 3) specific immune response to infection caused by viral, bacterial, fungal, and parasitic pathogens; and 4) disorders of the immune system unrelated to infectious disease. Through this course, students should not only gain a basic understanding of the human immune system, but also learn the functions and responses of the human immune system to diseases of infectious and non-infectious nature, and the relevance of these interactions in the context of public health problems.