The MMI cross-institutional Courses & Workshops Programme, funded originally as a DMMC activity in PRTLI Cycle 3, has built on the research and teaching strengths of our partner academic institutions and the clinical expertise in the affiliated teaching hospitals.
It delivers an easily accessible means for researchers in multiple institutions to come together to develop their skills and broaden their training in the biosciences, with a major emphasis on translational research.

MMI Courses (taught courses of 3-35 contact hours, both lecture-based and practical) are designed specifically for a cross-institutional audience, are delivered by instructors from multiple institutions (including international keynote lecturers and industry representatives), and are coordinated via a dedicated administrative infrastructure in the MMI Directorate, with continual course development assisted by participant feedback.

1501 individuals attended one or more DMMC/MMI Courses and Workshops between December 2003 and June 2008 (this gave rise to 2595 attendances). 152 individuals were instructors during this period. The total of 1501 users includes 734 PhD students (basic science and medical backgrounds) and 228 postdoctoral staff.

Courses have been specifically designed and delivered to make accessible various technologies, including proteomics and genomics; address translational research areas such as cancer, immunology, and neurobiology; and provide opportunities to gain important skills such as writing research papers and getting them published. MMI has teamed with industry to develop courses: Molecules to Medicines: How Biopharma Delivers, developed in partnership with Wyeth, ran for the third time in 2008 (see News in Brief).
 

MMI Courses supplement research degrees and provide career-long training in MMI partner institutions. We also invite applications from further afield (throughout Ireland and internationally) for selected courses and workshops. Overseas interest was boosted by our first International Workshop, Epigenetics: From Mechanisms to Medicines, which took place in June 2007 and attracted 96 attendees, with over half travelling from the UK, Germany, Austria, France, Poland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Croatia, Turkey, Sweden, and Australia.

The result is a growing cross-institutional and cross-discipline teaching and learning community that enriches the work environment for existing researchers and promotes Ireland as a place to study and work in biomedical research. Details of the two most recent MMI Courses are in the News in Brief section of this newsletter. For further information please contact education@molecularmedicineireland.ie