HON 350: Molecular Mechanisms of Human Disease at MDIBL

Click here to apply to HON350!

The Molecular Mechanisms of Human Disease (HON 350) Honors tutorial course is designed to give students hands-on experience in biomedical research. The course is held annually over an intense week at MDI Biological Laboratory (MDIBL) in Bar Harbor, Maine and continues at the University of Maine over the course of the Spring semester. Interested students apply to attend the course in the Fall.
 
During the HON 350 course, students will complete two modules:

1. Studying how the innate immune system responds to influenza A virus infection by analyzing gene expression patterns in zebrafish embryos through bioinformatics analysis of RNA sequence data using Cloud computing resources. Prof. Ben King and Prof. Keith Hutchison teach this module.

2. Advanced microscopy techniques used to quantify biological processes relevant to studies of human disease. Prof. Ben King will lead this module.

At the end of each module, your team will present a summary of your work including data collected. After completing the modules, you will choose to be part of a team that will make one final presentation. Your team will also present a poster on your research at the University of Maine Student Symposium and Maine Biological and Medical Sciences Symposium in April 2025.

The application form for the course is due October 30, 2024. Housing, meals and materials for the course will be paid by the Maine INBRE Program that is funded by the National Institutes of Health

Please contact Prof. Ben King (benjamin.l.king@maine.edu) for more information about the course.

The course is supported by the National Institutes of Health (P30 GM103423).
An overhead view of the MDI Biological Laboratory on the coast of Bar Harbor, ME.
An Honors student presents her work at MDIBL in HON350.

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