Course Omics in environmental and occupational medicine

The course C333/01 Omics in environmental and occupational medicine is being offered by the Graduate School of Health, Aarhus University fall 2024.

Criteria for participation: University degree in medicine, dentistry, biology, molecular biology, public health or Master’s degree in other fields and/or postgraduate research fellows (PhD students and research-year medical students).

Requirements for participation: Investigators at all career stages are welcome to attend, and we particularly encourage trainees and early-stage investigators to participate. Experience with epidemiological analyses of environmental or occupational exposures is an advantage.

Aim: There are many challenges to capturing the complexity of exposures in an individual across the lifetime and their potential health effects. Traditionally, environmental health studies have focused on assessing risks related to a single exposure at a time, yet in reality we are constantly exposed to multiple exposures at the same time. To advance environmental health research and positively impact human health through recommendations and policy, we need to incorporate omics data that capture all chemical species detectable in human plasma and related molecular changes over the life course. The exposome offers this framework and can be viewed as the environmental complement of the genome.

This course integrates the principle concepts of exposomics and the untargeted approaches of measuring exogenous and endogenous chemical exposures and molecular changes on an omic scale. We will step through the tools and techniques currently available to analyze the exposome. We will integrate seminar lectures with group work and presentations to put concepts into practice. Emphasis will be given to leveraging existing resources from ongoing studies and initiating new investigations.

Learning outcomes:  By the end of the course, participants will be familiar with the following topics:

1. Principles of omics and exposomics
2. Study design advantages and pitfalls when doing omics
3. Laboratory methods and instrumentation platforms (metabolomics, proteomics, epigenomics) for analysis. Emerging (expo)somic topics, laboratory platforms and sensors
4. Big data, data reduction, AI
5. Pathway data analysis and bioinformatic databases
6. Data visualization and network interpretation, AOP

Workload: The full workload of the course is expected to be 36 hours.

Content: Lectures introducing omics, external exposomics (job exposure matrices and sensors), internal exposomics (epigenomics), big data linking internal and external exposomics and health outcomes, pathway analysis, data visualization, adverse pathway outcomes, emerging (expo)somic topics and laboratory platforms, biological interpretation and conclusions supplemented with discussion of participants' own research and journal club.

Obligatory presentation of own research with omics – focus on ongoing omics analysis or ideas of omics integrated in the research projects of the participants (prepare 5 min presentation + 10 min feedback). Present the hypothesis, analysis, and possible problems and pitfalls. PPt and abstract to be sent in in advance to the course start.

Instructors: Karin Broberg, Professor,  Genetic Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Lund University; Vivi Schlünssen, Professor, Institute of Public Health, Aarhus University; Johan Palmfeldt, Associate Professor, Department of Clinical Medicine, Research Unit for Molecular Medicine, Aarhus University; Bertram Dalskov Kjerulff, MSc, Department of Clinical Medicine, Clinical Immunology, Aarhus University; Anda Gliga, Assistant Professor, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet; Jens Boldsen, Department of Clinical Medicine, Clinical Immunology, Aarhus University; Ulla Vogel, Professor, National Research Centre for the Working Environment (NFA). 

Venue: Sandbjerg Gods, Sandbjergvej 102, DK-6400 Sønderborg

Course fee:

• PhD students, research-year students from Health, Aarhus University. A payment for accommodation of DKK 1.017,50 will be charged
• PhD students enrolled at partner universities of the Nordoc collaboration. A payment for accommodation of DKK 1.017,50 will be charged.
• PhD students from other institutions in the open market agreement for PhD courses. A payment for accommodation of DKK 1.017,50 will be charged.
• Others: A payment for accommodation of DKK 1.017,50 + the course fee DKK 3.000 will be charged. 

Course dates:

• 18 November 2024 12:00 - 18:00
• 19 November 2024 08:00 - 18:00
• 20 November 2024 09:00 - 13:00