Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Diabetes and Endocrinology

Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Diabetes and Endocrinology, Faculty of Medicine, J.N. Medical College, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh

Syllabus for Paper I (Ph.D. Endocrinology)

Unit 1:       Research Methodology I (Research Planning & Literature Search)

• Research Problem-conception, hypothesis, designing and implementaory

• Use of search engine in literature retrieval, citation index, impact factor, H-index

Unit 2:       Research Methodology II (Cytological, Biochemical and Immunology Techniques)

• Advances in Microscopy technique – LM, EM, Confocal microscopy, Karyotyping, Image analysis software.

• Uses of HPLC, Amino acid analyser and Bomb calorimeter.

Unit 3:         Research Methodology III (Molecular Biology Techniques)

• Basic concept of extraction and quantification of nucleic acid and proteins.

• Proteins and nucleic acid Electrophoresis, Northern, Southern and Western bolts. FISH and CISH.

• Protein and DNA band profiling through Gel documentation system.

• PCR, cloning, sequencing, microarray.

Unit 4:       Statistical Analysis and use of computers in Research.

• Significance of statistics in biological research.

• Measure of central tendencies and deviation, test of significance.

• Use of statistical software -  SPSS, Sigma plot, Statistical, Metlab.

• Populations genetics analysis software -  Popgen, TFPGA, Arlequin.

• Sequence analysis software -  BLAST, MultiAlign, BioWWdit, Clustal-W.

Unit 5:       Laboratory Techniques for Recognition of Endocrine Disorders:

• Types of assays (Competitive immunoassays, immunometric assay, free hormone assays, hormatographic assays, mass spectrometry nucleic acid based assays.

• Analytic validation (method comparison, precision, linearity, recovery, detection limit, stability, types of specimens)

• Quality Assurance.

Syllabus for Paper II (Ph.D. Endocrinology Ongoing)

                                  

Unit 1:                   Diabetes : General concept

Types, complications, Epidemiology, Pathophysiology, b-cell function, mechanism of action of insulin, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia.

Unit 2:             Diabetic Nephropathy (DN)

Epidemiology, Pathogenesis, stages of Diabetic Nephropathy(DN), risk factors for developing DN.

Unit 3:             Recognition of Diabetic Nephropathy(DN) subjects

                        Conventional methods for identification of patients suffering from DN.

Unit 4:             Genetic approach for Diabetic Nephropathy (DN)

                       Genetics& epigenetics of Diabetic Nephropathy,Genome Wide Association Study (GWAS) in Diabetic Nephropathy, role of SNP’s in Diabetic Nephropathy.

Unit 5:             Review of Literature/Published research work

The candidate is expected to answer questions from the following research articles/review articles.

• Recent progress in genetic and epigenetic research on type 2 diabetes, Experimental & Molecular Medicine (2016) 48, e220; doi:10.1038/emm.2016.7; published online 11 March 2016

• The Genetics of Diabetic Nephropathy, Journal: Genes 2013, 4, 596-619; doi:10.3390/genes4040596

• Genetics and Epigenetics of Diabetic Nephropathy, Journal: Kidney Diseases 2015;1:42–51, DOI: 10.1159/000381796, Received: March 8, 2015, Accepted after revision: March 20, 2015, Published online: April 16, 2015

• Genetic Factors in Diabetic Nephropathy, Clin J Am SocNephrol2: 1306–1316, 2007. doi: 10.2215/CJN.02560607

• Genetic and Epigenetic Aspects of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Review,Austin Endocrinol Diabetes Case Rep - Volume 1 Issue 1 - 2016