Cancer Biology Department

1 - Program Aims

The goal of the Program is to:
- Provide an excellent quality of postgraduate-level education of cancer biology, principles of immunology, virology, cancer biochemistry, molecular biology, pharmacology, recent techniques in cancer biology, biostatistics and bioinformatics.
- Familiar with basic cancer biology research literature, together with working background knowledge in all areas of cancer biology.
- Gain skills in modern cancer research through course work and laboratory training.
- Promote engagement with biological research into cancer and inspire you to pursue a scientific career inside or outside of the laboratory.
- Promote skills in designing experimental procedures/protocols and in conducting independent research using state?of the?art technologies.
- Development of oral, written, and visual communication skills in the field of cancer biology as the finest step to be promoted to PhD in cancer biology.
- Promote an understanding of the impact of scientific research on society.

2 - Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

Upon completion of the program, graduates will be able to:

a - Knowledge and understanding

a1 - Understand the changes in structure and metabolism of carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, hormones and nucleic acids in cancer cells.
a2 - Recognize the mechanisms of gene regulation in malignant transformation.
a3 - Understand the principles of bioenergetics.
a4 - Summarize the main hallmarks of cancer cells.
a5 - Investigate cellular and molecular basis of cancer and tumor progression.
a6 - Recognize the immune system in malignant transformation.
a7 - List the potential mechanisms by which tumor cells escape from an immune response.
a8 - Recognize the viral replication and genetics.
a9 - Define different types of viruses and oncogenic viruses.
a10 - Define different mechanisms of viral ontogenesis and how masking virus occurs.
a11 - Identify the relation between pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics.
a12 - List the principles of action of cytotoxic drugs and the main classes of the cytotoxic agents.
a13 - List different techniques in cancer research.
a14 - Understand the main bioinformatics tools used in cancer biology.
a15 - Understand statistical methods for analyzing and interpreting data.
a16 - Ethical aspects of scientific research.

b - Intellectual skills

b1 - Point out the different methods used in cancer research.
b2 - Describe biochemical pathways in normal and cancer cells.
b3 - Describe the carcinogenesis process in mammalian cells.
b4 - Distinguish between hormonal roles in normal/cancer cells.
b5 - Compare different types of immune response.
b6 - Discuss how viruses evade immune system.
b7 - Describe the mechanism of viral replication.
b8 - Discuss the mechanisms of resistance for chemotherapeutic drugs.
b9 - Differentiate between different types of cancer therapy.
b10 - Point out several bioinformatic tools used in cancer research.
b11 - Describe modern technology in cancer biology.
b12 - Compare different bio-statistical methods used for analyzing data.
b13 - Obeying the ethics of scientific research.

c - Professional and practical skills

c1 - Differentiate between normal and tumor cells.
c2 - Detect different biochemical changes in cancer cells.
c3 - Apply standard techniques in diagnosis of viruses.
c4 - Differentiate between RNA and DNA viruses.
c5 - Design the effective clinical regimens for cancer.
c6 - Apply recent techniques in modern molecular biology.
c7 - Design experiments to address specific research questions and hypotheses.
c8 - Analyze and interpretative data using bioinformatics tools.

d - General and transferable skills

d1 - Communicate with colleges and students.
d2 - Communicate properly with the statistician during medical research.
d3 - Organize quality control.
d4 - Work in teams to promote translational research that assists in proper management of tumors.
d5 - Analyze scientific data and methodologies and discuss the role of basic and clinical research in the development of cancer therapeutics.
d6 - Able to solve problems.

2 - Academic Standards

The Academic Standards are adopted from the general academic reference standards for postgraduate studies published by the National Authority for Quality Assurance and Accreditation of Education NAQAAE, 2009.
The standards of the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (UK) QAA, 2004 are used as a benchmark. Benchmarking has, therefore, been restricted to the generic areas of activity.

3 - Program Structure and Contents

4a. - Program duration: 3 years.
4b. - Program structure: 140 Credit points.

4 - Program Admission Requirements

Applicants should have a BSc degree in Science (Biochemistry, Microbiology , Molecular biology, Biochemistry/chemistry, chemistry /biology, Biotechnology , Microbiology/chemistry), Pharmacy, medicine , veterinary medicine from one of the Egyptian Universities or other scientific institutes acknowledged by Cairo University to be granted admission. The applicant should have a minimum score of Good in the BSc degree.

5 - Regulation for Progression and Program Completion

The student must register a thesis study starting from the 2nd Semester after completing the credit hours required for Biol 701 Radiation biology, Biol 702 Basic Biostatistics, Biol 703 Cancer Epidemiology , Biol 704 Cancer Tissue culture and studies of chromosomes, Biol 705 Applied Cancer Pathology, Biol 706 Basic cancer Biology (B), Biol 707 Immunological diagnosis of cancer. The subject of the thesis study should be approved by the Department Council, the Institute Council for Postgraduate Education, and the University Council. The thesis study should take at least 2 years starting from the date of approval by Institute Council for Postgraduate Education. <OL><LI>Students must attend at least 75% of tutorial sessions and attend practical sessions according to the Department council recommendation. Students who fail to meet this minimal percent of attendance may be prevented from attending the exam in this specific course.</LI> <LI>For all courses, a minimum of 60% has to be achieved in all written, oral, and practical exams.</LI> <LI>If the student fails in one of the courses, He/She retakes the exam in that course only.</LI> <LI>The degree is granted after the thesis defense is accepted by the Judging Commission and approved by the Department Council, the Institute Council for Postgraduate Education, and the University Council.</LI></OL>

Program Administration

Courses Contributing to the Program

General Courses (6)

Specialty Courses (4)