Epidemiology and PH Impacts of HIV/AIDS 



 
 November 24, 2009

 
Course Syllabus

Course Description | Course Objectives | Course Topics | Reading Materials | Course Communications | Course Grades and Assignments | Contact Information | Help | Ethical Conduct


 

Course Description

Provides an overview of the historical and public health aspects of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, with review and analysis of virology; immunology; clinical and laboratory manifestations; legal and ethical issues; economic impact; and needs for future research and intervention for global control of the HIV epidemic.


Course Objectives

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

  • Establish a knowledge base on basic science of HIV infection and host response
  • Recognize and compare HIV/AIDS epidemics at the global level
  • Explain the basis of clinical management of HIV infection at individual and population levels
  • Analyze the economic impact of HIV treatments
  • Compare risk factors for HIV infection and the behavioral interventions for prevention of HIV infection
  • Analyze vertical transmission of HIV from pregnant women to their newborns in the U.S. and other parts of the world
  • Describe the science and epidemiology of dual infections of HIV and viral hepatitis, HPV, tuberculosis, and malaria
  • Analyze intervention modalities used to interrupt vertical transmission of HIV
  • Discuss several aspects of legal issues in the HIV/AIDS field
  • Predict future issues and trends of HIV/AIDS by understanding the concept of HIV candidate vaccines, the economic burden of HIV/AIDS in the world, and the future projections of HIV/AIDS cases during the upcoming decade

Course Topics

  • HIV/AIDS: Virology and Pathogenesis
  • HIV-1 Detection and Quantitation: Application in Management and Natural History of HIV
  • The Emergence of Human Retroviruses 
  • Host Responses to HIV Infection
  • National and Global Epidemiology of HIV/AIDS Pandemic
  • Antiretroviral Therapy of HIV Infection
  • Treatment Effects on Natural History of HIV  
  • Economic Burden of HIV Treatment
  • Eradication of HIV: Is it Possible?
  • Epidemiology of HIV/AIDS among Injection Drug Users
  • HIV/AIDS Interventions and Prevention
  • Co-Infections: Hepatitis and HPV
  • HIV and TB: A Lethal Combination
  • HIV Co-infection with Malaria
  • Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV 
  • Legal Issues in Public Health and HIV/AIDS
  • Vaccine Issues and Future Trends

Reading Materials

For your convenience, the audio portions of all lectures are available to you as mp3s (in addition to the standard presentation format). Please note that these materials are copyrighted and are only for your personal use within the course. Copying or distributing these files, for any other purposes, is not permitted. Thank you for your consideration.

Textbooks:


Course Communications

We recommend that you send all urgent questions to the course email address and we will respond within two business days. Do not use the BBS for urgent questions. In fact, the BBS is best suited for communication among students. However, we will try to enrich BBS discussions as often as possible.

  

Course Grades and Assignments

Your course grade is based on the following percentages:

  • Bulletin board (BBS) exercise: 10%
  • Midterm online exam : 20%
  • LiveTalk group presentation: 20%
  • Final paper: 30%
  • Overall course participation (lectures and LiveTalk attendance): 20%

BBS Exercise: There is one discussion exercise in the course (see schedule for due date). Responses are posted in the course bulletin board (BBS). 

Midterm Exam: The midterm is a multiple-choice, online exam with roughly 20 questions based on the course lectures.

LiveTalk Presentation: Students will be divided into small groups, each of which will prepare a 10-12-minute presentation to be delivered during one of the scheduled course LiveTalks. Groups should use the Wiki Projects tool, in addition to any other communication tools, to conduct group work. Your presentation must be submitted to the course email address 72 hours before the LiveTalk during which you present.

Final Paper: The course culminates in a final paper, which should be submitted via the course Drop Box.

Overall Class Participation: It is imperative that you listen to all the lecture materials in the course and look at all the corresponding slides. Your participation grade is contingent on having viewed and listened to at least 90% of the lectures before the end of the course. Points will be deducted proportionate to the number of lectures not viewed, listened to, or completed.

Four LiveTalk sessions are scheduled to provide you with opportunities to interact in real time with the instructor, the teaching assistants, and fellow students to discuss the lecture materials. We highly recommend that you attend these Q&A/discussion sessions. We will also use this LiveTalk sessions for group presentations. All LiveTalk sessions and chat logs are archived on the LiveTalk main page for your review.

Please be advised that in order to monitor your progress, we track your access of the lecture materials, the review questions, and your participation in LiveTalk events and archives.


Contact Information

Course Email: hivweb@jhsph.edu

Primary Faculty:

Homayoon Farzadegan, PhD
Johns Hopkins University
615 Wolfe Street, Room E6004
Baltimore, MD 21205
Phone: 410-955-3786
Email: hfarzade@jhsph.edu

Additional Faculty:

David D. Celentano, ScD, MHS (dcelenta@jhsph.edu)
Joel E. Gallant, MD, MPH (jgallant@jhmi.edu)
Stephen Gange, PhD (sgange@jhsph.edu)
Jonathan Golub (jgolub@jhmi.edu)
Patti Gravitt, PhD (pgravitt@jhsph.edu)
Joseph Bernard Margolick, MD, PhD (jmargoli@jhsph.edu)
Shruti Mehta, PhD (shmehta@jhsph.edu)
Richard Moore, MD, MHS (rdmoore@jhmi.edu)
Susan Sherman, PhD (ssherman@jhsph.edu)
Robert Siliciano, MD, PhD (rsiliciano@jhmi.edu)
Taha E. Taha, PhD, MPH (ttaha@jhsph.edu)
Nathan Wolfe, PhD (ndwolfe@stanford.edu)

Teaching Assistants:

Meghan Davis (hivweb@jhsph.edu)
Hasina Samji (hivweb@jhsph.edu)


Help

Concerns
Contact
Concerns about course topics and assignments
Technical concerns about the functionality and operation of course Web pages (before emailing, please make sure that you can replicate the problem)
  • DEHelp, the central help system for all tech support inquiries related to DED courses
Technical help on weekends
  • JHSPH User Support: 410-955-3781
Concerns about your Internet connection
  • Your Internet service provider (e.g., AT&T, Erols, etc.)
Concerns about your personal software
  • Your software vendor


Ethical Conduct

The academic ethics code, as discussed in the Policy and Procedure Memorandum for Students, March 31, 2002, will be adhered to in this class.


Disability Support Services

If you are a student with a documented disability who requires an academic accommodation, please contact Betty H. Addison in the Office of Career Services and Disability Support: dss@jhsph.edu, 410-955-3034, or Room E-1140.

 

© 2009 The Johns Hopkins University. All rights reserved.
Copyright to this collective work of materials is owned by The Johns Hopkins University.
Copyright to individual contributions may be retained by contributing authors.