PhD Programme in Experimental Medicine and Therapy - Dottorato in Medicina e Terapia Sperimentale

The MTS/EMT and the other educational infrastructures selected by the GDL_QA_PhD working group (see Educational activities) offer biomedical–specific courses.

The mandatory courses organized by MTS/EMT are:

• Biomedical research methodology
• Writing and speaking for excellence
• Writing a proposal in biomedical sciences: individual grants and fellowships
• Oxidative stress and redox reactions in pathophysiology
• New technologies in medicine and surgery (M&S)
• Translational medicine in severe asthma
• Statistics
  
  

Elective teaching activities

• Tissue processing for morphological analysis
• From bench to a start-up
• Platelet dysfunction in atherothrombotic diseases
• Cardioprotection
• Altered cholesterol metabolism in Alzheimer’s disease development
• Post-Traumatic states: inflammation and brain-heart interplay
• Oral inflammation and the link with systemic diseases
• The impact of latent/chronic infections on neurodegeneration and organ damage
• The neurophysiological and neurobiological bases of sleep disorders and circadian sleep-wake rythm alterations
• The protective role of mastication during cognitive development and neurodegenerative diseases

• molecular imaging of: atherosclerosis, myocardial dysfunction, chronic inflammation of the liver, pancreas, intestine, brain and oral cavity;
• employment of human staminal cells obtained from dental pulp, hemopoietic bone marrow and adipose tissue, and differentiated into myocardial, neuronal, hepatocyte and osteoblastic lineages;
• design, production and experimental assay (in vitro and in vivo) of nanoparticles for the delivering of cell signal modulators and anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, anti-oxidant drugs (in connection with spin off companies, technological platforms and pharmaceutical industries).

The MTS/EMT program organizes several courses and seminars (See Educational Activities). In particular MTS/EMT organizes:

• specific lab seminars addressed to small groups students, or of individual mini-stages, held or coordinated by the PhD teachers respectively;
• international workshops for the PhD or meeting sessions for the PhD program;
• scientific seminars held by Italian and foreign researchers external to the PhD course;
• periodical meetings with operators coming from the two technological Incubators of the University of Turin (for the Biotechnologies and for the Pharmaceutical Chemistry) and of scientific and technological Parks in sharing with Finpiemonte;
• stages in industries and scientific institutes in Piedmont, Italy and foreign Countries.

The PhD student must give a meaningful and original contribution to the knowledge of the research groups working within the multidisciplinary field of the PhD programme. This contribution will be assessed in extenso publications on peer reviewed international Journals.

Hard skills

• capacity to recognize original and promising research topics within the specific disciplines of the PhD program;
• capacity to define methodological instruments suitable for producing and elaborating significant experimental results;
• autonomy in conducting research programs, manufacturing processes, advanced analytical methods and innovative therapies of molecular medicine, operating with critical analysis, cultural orientation and rational initiative;
• capacity to write projects and scientific articles;
• aptitude for collaborating with Italian and foreign colleagues of the same or similar areas.

Soft skills

• public engagement;
• valorisation and dissemination of the research products;
• fundraising capacity, research and knowledge management of international research systems.

• biomedical–specific courses organized by the MTS/EMT and held by teachers and Supervisor(s) of the doctorate in collaboration with national and international scientists;
• common teaching courses shared with all other PhD programs of the PhD School of the University of Turin;
• specific teaching courses addressed to the students of the Experimental Medicine and Therapy programme, mainly focused on:
  • role of inflammation in the progression of multistep disease processes occurring in humans;
  • role of oxidative stress, infections, toxic and degenerative adverse reactions, and altered hormonal responses in the progression of human chronic diseases;
  • pharmacology and “molecular” therapy of solid and hemolymphopoietic tumours, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, degenerative diseases;
  • ad personam and small-group learning modules about research methodologies;
  • one or more research programs which every student has to carry out during the course, under the constant supervision of a Supervisor(s), and, during the first year only, with the mentorship of another PhD student or researcher.

It is strongly recommended that the PhD student would spend a period of study and research by suitable foreign institutions, in order to improve the cultural and technical knowledge needed for his own research program.

All research projects performed within the frame of the PhD program will be defined and included into the competition call so that the candidate will be able to select his project at the time of filling the application form. The admission test will consist of a written and/or oral examination, in which the candidates will be asked to propose their own approach to the selected research project. Candidates who have passed the admission test will be assigned to a research group and formal Supervisor(s) will be nominated by the coordinator of the PhD program.

Every PhD student will have a Student Portfolio to register her/his attendance to lab seminars, intra- and inter-PhD seminars and courses as well as all educational activities. The document will be shared with Coordinator for periodic evaluation (facsimile/template).

At the end of each trimester, every PhD student will have to present to the Supervisor(s) a report of her/his activities and Student Portfolio.

Mid-term Evaluation: At the end of April of each year, every PhD student must report a summary of the Portfolio to the Coordinator about her/his activities approved by the Supervisor(s), who should confirm the regular involvement of the student into the planned scientific activity. Moreover, the PhD student should send the Abstract of research activity that will be presented during the annual Progress Report.

Final Evaluation: At the end of each Academic Year (usually in September), an open access Progress Report will be organized, during which the PhD students will present a written report (in English) about their activity, describing the achieved results and the expected ones.

The Progress Report is organized as a full day meeting, in the presence of all the PhD Students, the Scientific Board and of invited researchers (discussants). During this meeting, while the first-year students will present a poster, the senior students will present their results as an oral communication.

This Progress Report will allow every student to compare her/his work with other colleagues' work. Moreover, the student will have the opportunity to exhibit an updated knowledge of the proper scientific literature, to show the actual capacity to work autonomously and to present her/his results with clarity. This test will be used for admission to the following years, after verification of the candidate’s proper and consistent attendance to the planned educational and scientific activities (see Information and Dealines for further informations).

At the end of the period of formation, the PhD student will have to present to the MTS/EMT Scientific Board:

1. a comprehensive synthesis of his research, in English, structured in rationale, methods, results and discussion.
2. a copy of the in extenso publications, abstracts of Congress presentations, book articles and other possible research products;
3. all the certifications of attendance to the seminars, workshops and scientific meetings organized by the PhD program and by the PhD School;
4. all the certificates of attendance at Italian and foreign laboratories external to the PhD program and all activities reported in the Portfolio;
5. the thesis will be evaluated by two external reviewers for revisions and suggestions.

On the basis of the above documents and positive evaluation by the two external reviewers, the MTS/EMT Scientific Board will decide the admission of every candidate to the thesis defense.

The final thesis will be based on the publications on international scientific Journals, pertinent to the research topics carried out by the student during the PhD course; the thesis must be prepared according to University of Turin rule.

The thesis defense will consist in a presentation and discussion in front of a Commission named by the Rector of the University. In addition to the presentation and public defense of the thesis, the evaluation will be based on the actual research products achieved by the PhD student, which should include at least one publication in peer-reviewed and preferably in high ranking journal/top ranking category.

In extenso publications, abstracts of Congress presentations, book articles, patents.