Programme/Approved Electives for 2022/23
None
Available as a Free Standing Elective
No
Regenerative Medicine is a game-changing field of study which seeks to repair or replace tissue or organ function lost due to disease, injury, congenital defects or ageing. Cell therapies can harness and enhance the capacity of the body to repair and regenerate. These approaches include cellular/tissue replacement strategies as well as indirect mechanisms to enhance intrinsic repair and/or ameliorate injury or disease associated dysfunction. A plethora of cell therapies are already in the clinic, encompassing a wide range of delivery approaches and targets. Ethical constraints, regulatory frameworks, manufacturing and business strategies are essential considerations for the translation and commercialisation of regenerative medicine strategies. The study of applied regenerative medicine will be of particular interest to you if you are considering work in biomedical science, tissue engineering and in particular, advanced therapy development, manufacture and delivery to the clinic. The interdisciplinary skills that you will develop would also prove useful for postgraduate study and a broad range of employers including health service providers or regulators, academia and the pharmaceutical industry.
Aims
The aim of this module is to evaluate cell therapy strategies. This will require an understanding of mechanisms of action, allogeneic/autologous approaches, good manufacturing practice, ethical/regulatory frameworks and the role of patient advocacy.
Intended Learning Outcomes
Evaluate autologous and allogeneic cell therapy approaches with reference to immunological considerations and mechanisms of action, for example, tissue replacement, homing and paracrine activity: 1Critically discuss the regulatory framework, including consideration of ethical challenges, surrounding the derivation and use of cell therapies: 1Evaluate the role of patient advocacy in the clinical translation of regenerative medicine: 2
9x 1-hour case-based learning tutorials2-hours drop-in support sessions for assessment1x 1-hour introductory lecture (asynchronous)2x 1-hour guest lectures (asynchronous)72-hours independent study to support case-based learning64-hours working on assessment
Description of Module Assessment
1: Report weighted 70%Concise evaluative report (2000 words in total)Students are presented with a specific disease/injury case and asked to formulate an allogeneic and autologous regenerative medicine approach to treatment. In the report, students must include reference to both the regulatory framework and ethical challenges for their chosen case study.
2: Reflective Analysis weighted 30%Reflective account of patient advocacyStudents will be presented, and asked to complete, a patient questionnaire based on regenerative medicine approaches for the treatment of spinal cord injury. They will then receive real clinical data and be asked to reflect on why patients might have answered differently to their own expected responses. They will then be asked to reflect on how they think patient advocacy data can be used by scientists, clinicians, regulators and healthcare providers to improve the clinical delivery of regenerative medicine. This work should be no more than 1000 words.