Basic genetics course developed in collaboration with Prof. André Uitterlinden of the dept. of Internal Medicine.

This 2-day course will explain the basic concepts in human genetics, and more in particular in “Complex Genetics”. This is the scientific discipline that studies the role of genetic variation in common complex diseases (such as osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, etc.) and traits (such as blood pressure, BMD, glucose level, height, cholesterol level, etc.). Fuelled by successful applications of Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS) and High Throughput (HT) Sequencing in various disease areas, this course will provide some introductory background to people who want to start or become involved in such studies, or who just want to know more about it. Four experienced lecturers from Erasmus MC will introduce you to basic concepts in complex genetics, laboratory techniques, and statistical analytical issues. The lectures are interactive, allowing ample time for questions and discussions.

Audience
The target audience includes - but is not limited to - Master of Science students, technicians, PhD students, postdocs, assistant/associate/full professors. They may come from various disciplines and from a clinical, basic/biological, epidemiological and/or public health background.
The total number of participants is limited to 75.

Advanced: course on SNPs and Complex Diseases
This short course is also very useful as an introduction to the more advanced MolMed “SNP course” given 2 months later, which covers a much wider and deeper range of topics in this rapidly evolving field. The SNP course also has hands-on practical exercises and offers lectures by world leading top experts in the field covering several disease areas.

Registration fee
The attendance fee of the course is €250, but certain participants can get a discount. See attached program for details.

References
Basic knowledge can also be found in any decent textbook of human molecular biology and genetics, such as "Molecular Biology of the Cell" (4th ed.; editors: Alberts et al.; published by Garland Sciences) and "Human Molecular Genetics" (4th ed.; editors Strachan & Read; published by Garland Sciences; £40,-). To this aim, also a series of basic papers is published on our website: www.molmed.nl on the page of the SNP course. At the start of the course a reader will be issued.