This bachelor’s degree is an interuniversity programme between the University of Padua and the University of Bologna. It offers interdisciplinary training in the field of human health, with reference to the biological basis of diseases and human-environment interaction (nature vs. nurture). Students will be to combine this knowledge with advanced research methodologies adequate to cope with the new health threats, also considering the impact that the anthropogenic activities and global change, by modifying the natural environment, have on human health. The programme will provide a solid basis on the processes that underlie the functioning of the human body, and how their alteration determines the appearance of diseases.
The student will possess an adequate basic knowledge of the different fields of the life sciences and multidisciplinary methodological and technological knowledge for biological investigation, necessary to understand the biology and physiology of the cell, organs and systems of the human body. In the path in Human Health, this knowledge will be integrated from learning the mechanisms of diseases, their spread in populations, and the competence in the use and application of modern experimental methods in biomedical research. In the Environmental Health path, students will learn the processes of biological adaptation to the environment, and how they are affected by global changes, and are reflected in the human health. Students will also acquire competences in the theoretical bases and the use of research methods in the environmental sector in relation to human health.
The first two years yes will take place at the University of Padua, where the student will acquire basic knowledge, in subject such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, biochemistry, molecular and genetic biology, bioinformatics and computational methods, physiology, applied to man and the environment and their mutual impact.
In the third year the student may opt between the following study paths:
• Human Health (at University of Padua): focus on the fileds of molecular and cellular biology, epidemiology, pathology, bioethics and public health , immunology and pharmacology;
• Environmental Health (at University of Bologna): focus on environment physiology, on human-environment interactions and their spillovers on human health and nutrition, with specific knowledges on microbiology and genome editing.
In the first two years, frontal instruction will be accompanied by alternative teaching (instruction in small groups), hands-on laboratories in basic disciplines (chemistry, biochemistry, molecular biology, computer science), in suitable classrooms. In third year, laboratory experiences will be achieved by internships in biomedical or environmental research laboratories, both in academia and outside the proposing universities. The willingness to host students, by public and private structures operating locally, has clearly emerged during consultations with the stakeholders.
The international character of the course is supported by the use of English for all activities, including teaching, practicals, exams, internships, preparation and discussion of the thesis).
