The Immunology Course has been held every year since 2008, featuring an international faculty and students from all over the globe.  We have focused on different topics, ranging from immunological memory, immune system responses to pathogens that have been encountered previously (2015), and mucosal immunity and vaccines, to the complex interactions between pathogens and the host’s defence that take place in the mucosal surfaces of the gastrointestinal, respiratory, and urogenital tracts (2014).

 

Personalized medicine is also a focus. Because individuals differ in their response to stress and infection, among many other respects, one of the big challenges to develop a personalized medical care is to define the parameters (genetic, epigenetic or environmental) that constitute a “healthy” immune system. HKU-Pasteur Immunology Courses have explored the ongoing transition from reductionist studies that are based on the application of genetic approaches in animal models to a more integrated view of the physiology and pathology of the human immune system.  Our programs highlight the latest advances in large-scale, quantitative data collection and computational analysis to investigate immune responses and immune diseases, in regards to the biochemical aspects of immune cell activation and function, multicellular behaviour in tissues and model organisms, and human immune function in health and disease.