This course is designed to provide students with a comprehensive overview on the latest advances in our understanding of how hormones work at the molecular and cellular level in vertebrate systems, including humans.

The course will begin with an overview of the vertebrate endocrine systems. We will then examine several topics, including growth factor biology, hormone receptors, intracellular signal transduction mechanisms, and hormonally regulated gene expression. A portion of this course will be devoted to discussing specific topics (i.e., hormones and cancer, environmental endocrine disrupters, etc.) and reading relevant research publications.

The class seeks to develop skills in integration, problem solving, and writing. For example, we are living in an age where information abounds. However, information is not knowledge, and knowledge is not practice. To make information useful, and to provide a foundation for its application in practice, organizing principles are necessary. Approaching endocrinolgy in terms of principles facilitates prediction and understanding of differences in function that occur among organisms. Thus, the core of the course is general principles.

Course Requirements:

Practice comes from applying knowledge in various situations. Questions will be presented and discussed as part of lectures, and exams will typically include application of principles to novel situations, etc. Exams typically require short answers in which logical presentation and other writing skills are important.

Intended Audience:

This course is intended for advanced undergraduate students, premedical students, and beginning graduate students.

Students will have completed a Biochemistry course and a Physiology course. A course in Endocrinolgoy is helpful but not required. MCDB 426 will review some background material on Endocrinology.