The Business of Biology Graduate Course

In the wake of the revolutions in genetics, genomics, and proteomics, scientists at the Life Sciences Institute are aiming for collaborative insights into the complexity of life at the genetic, molecular, and cellular levels. But scientific advances, standing alone, are not enough. The question is: "How will advances in the life sciences improve our health, change our economy, and transform our society?"

 

In searching for answers, the Life Sciences Institute sponsors a graduate course entitled The Business of Biology. The course, launched in 2004, provides a "helicopter view" of the dynamic developments in the life sciences and health care and how they might change our world. It features guest lecturers from the schools of Law, Medicine, and Public Health as well as distinguished executives from the worlds of biotechnology, finance, and health care. The course is cross-listed in the Ross School of Business, UM Medical School, UM College of Engineering, and the UM School of Public Health (BA 518, HMP 630, Pharma 620). It is co-taught by Liz Barry, Managing Director of the LSI and Dr. David Canter, Director of Health Care Research at U-M's William Davidson Institute and member of the Life Sciences Institute Leadership Council.

 

The course is open to graduate students across the campus. They come from a broad array of disciplines, including biological chemistry, business, engineering, health services administration, chemistry, neuroscience, pharmacology and pharmacy. The course surveys the interactive effects of discoveries in the life sciences, advances in medical and information technology, emerging new consumerism, and how these developments are changing business and industry, medicine, and health. The course also grapples with the complex ethical and legal issues that face individuals and society in the wake of these changes. During the term, students work in cross-disciplinary groups on selected projects which they present in a final colloquium which is open to the campus.