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BIG-TCR

Cancer and Artificial Intelligence Research

Biomedical Informatics, Genomics and Translational Cancer Research Training Program (BIG-TCR) Curriculum

All trainees supported by BIG-TCR will be required to accomplish the following curriculum requirements during the first year of appointment:

  1. To attend Responsible Conduct of Research training: According to requirement of CPRIT policy, all predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees must accomplish the NIH Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) course in each school during training period. If a trainee has completed RCR training as a graduate student, or as a postdoc within the last four years (per NOT-OD-10-019), the trainee is required to provide the proof of completion. Or the trainees need to re-take the equivalent RCR course in the current school;
  2. To attend the BMI7151: Seminar in Precision Medicine at least one semester each appointment year.
  3. To enroll in laboratory rotations of the following UTHealth-appointed facilities: the specific rotation procedure will be finalized soon. If you plan to attend rotations in other facilities, please contact [email protected] to confirm your request. More UTHealth facility information can be found at https://www.uth.edu/research/core-labs/;

  4. To enroll the “Topics for Artificial intelligence (AI) in Cancer Discovery” in the fall semester. Besides this required course, BIG-TCR training program designed competency-based training to ensure that the development of multifaceted competencies will synergize with the discipline-based curriculum of each school. Predoctoral trainees are suggested to take the courses from complementary fields (for example trainees in the TCR side are suggested to take introduction-level courses in the BIG side, and vice versa).

    If you want to consult the course, please email the BIG-TCR Executive Committee [email protected] to confirm.


Currently Approved Interdisciplinary Competency Courses and Enrichment Activities

Course ID of each school: SBMI (BMIxxxx), GSBS (GSxxxxx), and SPH (PHMxxxx)

1. Responsible Conduct of Research Equivalent Courses

Course ID Course Name Semester
GS211051 The Ethical Dimensions of the Biomedical Sciences Fall
PHD3830 Ethics and Policy (SPH) Fall
GS211051 Postdoctoral Ethics course Spring and Fall

2. Seminar/Workshop
(To Be Updated):

Course ID Course Name Semester
BIG-TCR Annual Retreat Summer
BMI7151 Seminar in Precision Medicine All
GS011031 Quantitative Sciences Student Seminar Series Spring and Fall
GSBS Career Development Workshop Summer
GSBS Translational Science Seminar Workshop Spring or Fall
SBMI Machine Learning Datathon Summer
Grant Writing & Oral Presentation
Grants 101, Grants 102 (postdoctoral) Spring or Fall
GS031111 Scientific Writing for Grant Proposals Summer
GS041821 G&E Oral Scientific Presentations Spring

3. Laboratory Rotation
(To Be Updated):

Course ID Course Name Semester
Data Science and Informatics Core
for Cancer Research
  UTHealth Cancer Genomics Core
  Therapeutic Monoclonal Antibody Lead
Optimization and Development Core
  Advanced Cancer Antibody Drug
Modalities Core Facility
  Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory
  DNA Sequencing and Genotyping Core
  UTHealth Flow Cytometry Core
  Clinical & Translational Proteomics Core

4. Courses in Each
Competency Modules:

Module 1: Biomedical Informatics (BIG)*
Course ID Course Name Semester
BMI 7320 Topics for Artificial intelligence (AI)
in Cancer Discovery		 Fall
BMI5300 Introduction to Biomedical Informatics All
BMI531 Foundations of Electronic Health Records
and Clinical Information Systems 		All
BMI5327 Standards in Health Informatics Summer
BMI5380 Principles and Foundations
of Public Health Informatics 		Spring and Fall
BMI6330 Biomedical Natural Language Processing every 2 years
Module 2: Quantitative & Data Sciences (BIG)*
Course ID Course Name Semester
Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (AI)
in Cancer Discovery
[new course under preparation]
BMI5352 Statistical Methods in Biomedical Informatics Summer and Fall
BMI5353 Biomedical Data Analysis Summer and Fall
BMI6323 Machine Learning in BMI All
BMI6318 Big Data in BMI Fall, Spring
GS011041 Computational Approaches for Single-Cell Data Analysis Spring and Fall
PHM1690L Introduction to Biostatistics
in Public Health 		All
PHM1975L Intro to Data Science Fall
Module 3: Genomics & Bioinformatics (BIG)*
Course ID Course Name Semester
BMI5330 Introduction to Bioinformatics All
BMI5331 Foundations of Pharmacogenomics Fall
BMI5332 Statistical Genomic Analysis All
BMI5333 Systems Medicine: Principle and Practice Spring
GS041251 Practical Bioinformatics Fall
GS041253 Principles of Genetics and Epigenetics Spring
GS111073 Introduction to Genomics & Bioinformatics Fall
Module 4: Cancer Biology (TCR)*
Course ID Course Name Semester
GS041093 The Biology of Cancer Metastasis Fall
GS041223 Fundamental Mechanisms of Cancer Development Fall
GS041235 Basic and Translational Cancer Biology Spring
GS041813 History of Biology and Cancer Science Fall
GS061013 Fundamental Immunology Spring
Module 5: Translational Sciences (TCR)*
Course ID Course Name Semester

GS011033

Emerging Fields in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology: Introduction to Biostatistics and Clinical Trials Spring
GS041081 Stem Cells in Biomedicine Fall
GS041103 Principles of Therapeutics Spring
GS041213 Mechanisms in Cancer Therapeutics Fall
GS061103 Emerging Concepts in Immunology Fall
GS121164 Human Pathobiology Spring
GS131111 Case Studies in Drug Development Spring
GS211613 Translational Cancer Research Spring
PHM2745 Cancer Epidemiology Summer

If you have any concerns regarding the current curriculum, do not hesitate to contact us ([email protected]).