Students are introduced to artificial intelligence (AI) and its applications in healthcare. Students play games to learn about the different subsets of AI (e.g., machine learning, robotics, generative AI) and how AI works at a basic level. Students then explore the potential advantages and disadvantages of using AI technology in healthcare and other applications.

This course introduces students to how a scientist’s knowledge of biology can be used to develop medical, environmental, and industrial technologies. Students first learn how to measure small volumes using a micropipette—a skill that is fundamental to working in a laboratory. Students then learn about restriction enzymes—microscopic scissors used to cut-out genes in DNA—and conduct a mock restriction digest. Finally, students verify the results of their mock restriction digest using gel electrophoresis and explore how this technology can be used in paternity testing and crime-scene investigations.

Students are introduced to DNA and its role in determining our traits by participating in exercises that illustrate the relationship between genotype and phenotype. During the course students extract DNA from wheat germ, are introduced to how DNA codes for proteins, explore their unique traits, and learn how human health is influenced by genetics.

Students learn about drug discovery, development, and the various career opportunities involved in bringing biomedical innovations from concept to market. Students then play a board game where they run their own pharmaceutical company and encounter some of the same challenges and successes that researchers face as their drug moves along the drug development pipeline. Once their drug is approved, students learn about the manufacturing and quality control processes by making sugar pills that represent their final drug product.

Students train as immunologists by participating in mini games to learn about innate and adaptive immunity. Students then try to diagnose patients by matching their symptoms to those of an infectious disease. After hypothesizing their diagnosis, they analytically verify their hypothesis by running a mock ELISA test. Once a diagnosis is made, students practice their bedside manner to deliver the diagnosis to their patient and provide a treatment plan.

Students are introduced to the world of microorganisms and their habitats with a focus on infectious bacteria. After an introduction to microscopy, students use their new skills to investigate various microorganisms under the microscope and learn how to culture bacteria just like a microbiologist would in the laboratory.

A survey of our senses, this course explores how our body and brain communicate to influence our senses of sight, taste, and touch. Students learn how to “trick” their brains perception of taste, run experiments to explore receptor density and reaction time, and test their hand-eye coordination.

Through a series of mini-games and challenges, students learn about the history of vaccines, the different types of vaccines and how they work, and how vaccines protect communities against viral and bacterial epidemics.