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ENVH 514, Fall Quarter

ENVIRONMENTAL AND OCCUPATIONAL TOXICOLOGY I
Course Syllabus

Autumn Quarter, 2000 - MWF 11:30-12:20, T-635

Discussion Section, Selected Tuesdays, 1:30-2:20, T-733

 

Course Directors:

Dr. Curt Omiecinski, Professor, Room R207, Phone 543-1700

email: cjo@u.washington.edu

Dr. Zhengui Xia, Assistant Professor, Room HSB-F561C, Phone 616-9433

email: zxia@u.washington.edu

TA: Jennifer Finley, email: jennfin@u.washington.edu

 

Course Overview: In this class, students will explore the mechanisms and fate of chemical interaction with biological systems. With the information gathered from this class, students will derive an enhanced appreciation for how foreign chemicals, including pharmaceuticals and environmental agents, interact with cellular pathways to effect toxicological insult. Guest lecturers are a valuable asset to the course and will assist to provide coverage of subject areas within their respective areas of expertise.

The 514 class is the first quarter of a 3 quarter course series. None of the individual classes are intended as stand-alone courses. Together, the 3 quarter sequence integrates core subject areas pertaining to environmental and occupational toxicology. The second quarter (ENVH 515) of the continuing class sequence focuses primarily on organ system toxicology, while the emphasis of the third quarter (ENVH 516) is on specific classes of toxicological agents.

ENVH 514 is organized with modules pertaining to:

  • Dose-response theory;
  • Concepts of risk assessment;
  • Absorption & distribution of toxicants;
  • Signal transduction pathways;
  • Biochemical & molecular mechanisms of toxicity;
  • Genetic toxicology;
  • Metabolism/biotransformation;
  • Cell Death & Apoptosis;
  • Gene induction;
  • Carcinogenesis;
  • Toxicokinetics; and
  • Genetic Polymorphism.

 

Intended Student Audience: The ENVH 514/515/516 course sequence serves as the core of the toxicology program for Toxicology graduate students in the Department of Environmental Health. Graduate students from other allied biomedical science departments, e.g., Epidemiology, Medicinal Chemistry, Chemistry, Molecular & Cellular Biology, also participate in the course on a regular basis. Prerequisites for this class include a year of undergraduate general biology, two quarters of organic chemistry, and two quarters of graduate level biochemistry, the second quarter of which may be taken concurrently. Previous background or concurrent registration in mammalian physiology is strongly recommended.

Required Reading: The text for ENVH 514 is: Casarett and Doull's Toxicology: the Basic Science of Poisons, Fifth Edition, and is available at the Health Sciences Branch of the University Bookstore. The same text also is used in the 515 and 516 sections of this course.

Additional handout materials will be provided for most classes and are required reading.

Discussion Groups: At several points in the quarter, a discussion section will meet on Tuesday, from 1:30-2:20 PM, in T-733. Ms. Jennifer Finley will direct the discussion groups with assistance from Drs. Omiecinski, Xia and guest lecturers. These sessions will provide an opportunity for review of course materials prior to exams and other extended discussion of course subject matter.

Grading: The final grade for this class will be compiled from 2 in-class exams and 2 take-home exams.

 

 

 

 

Contact the instructor at: cjo@u.washington.edu