Session 6: Take Home Translational Research Activity

Take Home Assignments (67%).

Similar to the guided live research session, the scholars will be assigned a translational research project with preliminary data, in groups of 2-3 people, as an assignment. The scholars will have to design a small project (2 pages) addressing the scientific question posed (i.e. a light version of the research strategy section of a grant).

The project will have the following structure:

a.    Background: A brief background (one paragraph, less than half a page) will be provided on the topic related to the research question, elaborating on the clinical and biological context to justify the experimental approaches suggested (i.e. “Gene X is overexpressed in different tumor types and has been associated to worse overall survival in patients. Even if gene X is overexpressed in a subset of lung tumors, to date the role of gene X has not been studied in the context of lung cancer”).

b.    Hypothesis: A small paragraph (3-4 sentences) stating the overarching hypothesis defining the project (i.e., “We hypothesize that gene X may have an oncogenic role in a subset of patients with lung cancer in whose tumors gene X is overexpressed”).

c.     Experimental approach: State the specific aims of the proposal, with a relatively detailed description of the experimental methodology proposed to approach each of the specific aims. Imagine any resource you may need (in vitro or in vivo model, clinical cohort, clinical tissue,…) is available for you to leverage, but make sure to describe the model with detail. Please justify why and how you are going to do what (i.e. “To study the role of X gene in two lung cancer cell lines, we will leverage CRISPR-Cas9 technology and overexpression viral vectors to generate isogenic cell lines with differential X gene expression, and we will perform tumorigencity surrogate assays (proliferation and soft agar”).

d.    Potential pitfalls and alternative approaches: One short paragraph describing potential limitations or biases of the methods described, and proposing alternative approaches to perform the specific aims, particularly in the case where the previously described methods may be technically challenging (i.e., “If gene X knock out by CRISPR-Cas9 is not possible, as gene X might be essential and complete abrogation of its expression might be toxic, we will use siRNA technology as an alternative, to downregulate gene X expression”). This section can also be integrated in (c).

This activity will be divided in two parts:

1. The project will be submitted (Deadline: September 13, 2023), and feedback will be provided by September 27, 2023, the latest.
   
   
2. The scholars will have the chance to resubmit after addressing the comments provided (Deadline: October 11, 2023). This will make the activity a learning experience, rather than just an evaluation.

Although this is a non-for grade class, the project will be evaluated for the scholars to calibrate how well poised they are for graduate course. As a reference, a letter grade with a minimum of a B is would had been needed to pass the course, if it was for grade.

The main goals of this activity are that (1) the scholars face the blank page and individually perform the creative activity of designing a project on their own, and that (2) they hopefully learn from the feedback provided.