Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
J. CHARLES JENNETTE, Brinkhous Distinguished Professor and Chair
Pathology is the study of disease, its causes, development, and consequences. It is concerned with basic mechanisms of disease processes (pathobiology) and their structural/functional manifestations. Pathology combines the tools and the basic knowledge from many disciplines, such as molecular biology, cell biology, biochemistry, genetics, immunology, anatomy, and clinical sciences, to clarify the cause (etiology), natural course (pathogenesis), and diagnosis of disease.
Faculty members in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine of the UNC School of Medicine maintain active research programs and engage in training predoctoral students and postdoctoral fellows in a wide range of research endeavors. Undergraduate students interested in participating in pathobiological research should consider registering for PATH 462.
PATH
128 Biology of Human Disease (BIOL 128) (3). See BIOL 128 for description.
426 Biology of Blood Diseases (BIOL 426) (3). Prerequisite, BIOL 205. Permission of the instructor for students lacking the prerequisite. An introduction to the biology and pathophysiology of blood and the molecular mechanisms of some human diseases: anemias; leukemias; hemorrhagic, thrombotic, and vascular disorders; and HIV disease/AIDS.
462 Experimental Pathology (1–21). Hours, credits, and instructor to be arranged on an individual basis. Hands-on research experience in a predetermined instructor’s laboratory. Students learn and apply specific techniques and participate in investigations of molecular mechanisms responsible for disease processes (pathobiology). Contact the director of graduate studies in pathology for information. May be repeated.
463 Electron Microscopy (3). Permission of the instructor. Theoretical and practical aspects of electron microscopy. Application of transmission and scanning electron microscopy to pathology, with emphasis on ultrastructure of cells and organelles. Two lecture and six laboratory hours a week.
464 Light Microscopy (3). Permission of the instructor. Course focuses on practical fundamentals of light microscopy including optics, contrast mechanisms, fluorescence, laser scanning confocal microscopy, photography, and digital imaging.
667 Molecular and Cellular Biology of Cardiovascular Diseases (3). This advanced course will explore the pathogenesis of cardiac and vascular disease with the objective of teaching students to understand, investigate, and communicate current concepts of cardiovascular disease.
678 Human DNA Metabolism (2). Required preparation, a basic biochemistry course. The course will examine the molecular biology of DNA replication, resorption, recombination, and repair as these processes occur in human cells. Two seminar hours per week.