BIO201 / General Biology I [4-0, 4 cr.]

This course is an introductory, yet comprehensive, study of the chemical, cellular, and the tissue organization of life, the transfer of energy through living systems, the expression of genetic information, essential microbiology principles, as well as a discussion of the major characteristics of viruses, bacteria, fungi, protists, and plants.

BIO202 / General Biology II [4-0, 4 cr.]

This course is an introduction to the classification of the Animal Kingdom, and an in depth discussion of animals and plants, with particular emphasis on the study, and a comparison, of structures and functions, and of tissues and the organ system, all within the context of diversity of life as shaped by evolution.

Prerequisite: BIO201 / General Biology I

BIO321 / Genetics [3-0, 3 cr.]

This course is a study of the factors governing heredity, and variation, in plants and animals, on the classical and modern levels, with an emphasis on molecular and microbial genetics, and an introduction to recombinant DNA technology.

Prerequisites: BIO201 / General Biology I

BIO322 / Genetics Lab [1-0, 1 cr.]

This course is a hands on laboratory course that familiarizes students with principles of classical Mendelian genetics and modern molecular genetics with an emphasis on recombinant DNA technology through an in depth analysis of the genetics and workings of basic model organisms such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Sordaria fimicola, Zea mays and Escherichia coli.

Pre- or Co-requisite: BIO321 / Genetics

BIO345 / Cell & Molecular Biology [4-0, 4 cr.]

This course is an integration of the approaches of cytology, biochemistry, genetics, and physiology, to provide a comprehensive understanding of the operation of cells as units of structure and function in living organisms.

Prerequisite: BIO321 / Genetics, and Pre- or Co-requisite: BCH301 / Biochemistry

CHM201 / Chemistry Principles [3-0, 3 cr.]

This course covers the principles and theories of atomic structure, chemical bonding, stoichiometry, mass spectrum, properties of gases, basic thermodynamics, kinetic theory, solids and liquids, solutions, acids and bases, and chemical equilibrium.

CHM311 / Organic Chemistry I [3-0, 3 cr.]

This course is an introduction to the basic concepts of organic chemistry with an emphasis on the relation between structure and properties. It also includes synthesis, properties and reactions of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, alkyl halides and alcohols with an emphasis on mechanistic and stereochemical aspects of organic reactions.

CHM312 / Organic Chemistry II [3-0, 3 cr.]

This course covers in depth organic structure determination by spectroscopic methods, properties, reactions, and synthesis including alcohols, ethers, aldehydes, ketones, carboxylic acids and derivatives, amines, phenols, carbohydrates, and proteins. Emphasis will be placed on reaction mechanism and stereochemistry, as well as the design of multi-step synthesis.

PHY301 / Classical Physics for Life Sciences [3-0, 3 cr.]

This course is divided into three main parts: Newtonian Mechanics of a particle, Thermodynamics, and the study of fluids and solids. It begins with the study of Kinematics (geometrical analysis of the motion of a particle), continues with Newton’s Laws of Motion (kinetics), and then proceeds to the study of energy and momentum (work/energy theorem). The second part deals with temperature and heat, leading to the definition of entropy and to the laws of thermodynamics. The last part defines fluids and their density and pressure, leading to the Bernoulli equation, then defines solids and their stress and strain relationships with regards to Young’s modulus.

Prerequisite: MTH200, and Co-requisite: PHY302

PHY305 / Modern Physics for Life Sciences [3-0, 3 cr.]

This course  covers  Coulomb’s Law of Electrostatics, the study of moving charges (electric current, DC or AC), electromagnetism, wave phenomena, light and optics, introduction to relativity, atomic energy levels, nuclear mass/energy relationship, and energy decay phenomena (radiation and nuclear physics). This course is designed in a way to show the application of some of the above fields in biological systems, and medicine, when possible.

BCH301 /  Introduction to Biochemistry [4-0, 4 cr.]

This course covers the study of modern biochemistry concepts in the regulation of the metabolism of carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids. Enzymes and coenzymes will also be discussed.

Prerequisites: BIO201 Biology I Pre or Co-requisite: CHM312 Organic Chemistry II or CHM310 Basic Organic Chemistry.

MTH201 / Calculus III [3-0, 3 cr.]

This course covers hyperbolic functions, integration techniques and improper integrals. The course covers also infinite sequences and series: limits of sequences of numbers, bounded sequences, integral test for series, comparison tests, ratio and root tests, alternating series test, absolute and conditional convergence, power series, Taylor and Maclaurin series, and applications of power series. Polar functions, polar coordinates, and graphing of polar curves are also covered. In addition, topics from multivariable calculus are introduced: functions of several variables, partial derivatives, double integrals, applications to double integrals, and double integrals in polar form.

MTH207 / Discrete Structures I [3-0, 3 cr.]

This course covers the foundations of discrete mathematics as they apply to computer science. The course is an introduction to propositional logic, logical connectives, truth tables, normal forms, validity, predicate logic, universal and existential quantification, and the limitations of predicate logic. Also, the following topics are covered: the number system, the Euclidean algorithm, proof techniques, mathematical induction, counting arguments, permutations and combinations, binomial coefficients, sets, functions, relations, matrices, and Boolean Algebra.

BIF205 / Biostatistics [3-0, 3 cr.]

This course introduces the statistical design and analysis techniques needed to perform pharmaceutical research, and evaluate clinical data. It includes designing epidemiologic and clinical studies, evaluating diagnostic testing procedures, interpreting the use of statistical data in Medical Literature, and using frequently used statistical methods of data analysis. Emphasis is placed on the statistical concepts, and their application to the critical appraisal of clinical and experimental data.

BIF243 / Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming [3-0, 3 cr.]

This course introduces the fundamental concepts, and techniques, of programming and problem solving, from an object-oriented perspective. Topics include the introduction to computer systems (hardware, software, compilation, execution), fundamental programming constructs, (variables, primitive data types, expressions, assignment), program readability, simple I/O, conditional constructs, iterative control structures, structured decomposition, method call and parameter passing, basic program design using algorithms, algorithm stepwise refinement, pseudo-code, introduction to the object-oriented paradigm (abstraction, objects, classes, entity and application classes, class libraries, methods, encapsulation, class interaction, aggregation), inheritance, error types, simple testing and debugging, 1-D and 2-D arrays, basic searching, and sorting algorithms.

BIF244 / Introduction to Script Programming [3-0, 3 cr.]

This course introduces students to programming using scripting languages such as PERL or PYTHON with an emphasis on string and text processing. Topics include: basic operators, arrays and list variables, hashing, pattern and motif matching, as well as functions and subroutines. The course also covers querying online resources and parsing DNA and peptide sequences, genes and proteins annotations, PDF files and alignment reports.

BIF245 / Objects and Data Abstraction [3-0, 3 cr.]

This course presents further techniques of object oriented programming and problem solving, with emphasis on abstraction and data structures. Topics include: object oriented concepts, such as, composition, inheritance, polymorphism, information hiding, and interfaces; basic program design and correctness, such as, abstract data types, preconditions and post conditions, assertions and loop invariants, testing, basic exception handling, and the application of algorithm design techniques. The course also covers: basic algorithmic analysis, time and space tradeoffs in algorithms, big-O notation; fundamental data structures and applications, such as, collections, single- and double-linked structures, stacks, queues, and trees; performance issues for data structures; recursion, more sorting algorithms.

Prerequisite: BIF 243 / Introduction to Object Oriented Programming

BIF310 / Algorithms and Data Structures [3-0, 3 cr.]

This course presents fundamental computing algorithms and data structures, with emphasis on design and analysis. Topics include the asymptotic analysis of upper and average complexity bounds, the best, the average, and the worst, case behaviors. Recurrence relations, sets, hashing and hash tables, trees and binary trees (properties, tree traversal algorithms), heaps, priority queues, and graphs (representation, depth- and breadth-first traversals and applications, shortest-path algorithms, transitive closure, network flows, topological sort) are also covered. The course also covers the sorting algorithms and performance analysis which include mergesort, quicksort and heapsort as well as details fundamental algorithmic strategies (divide-and-conquer approach, greedy, dynamic programming, and backtracking). An introduction to NP-completeness theory is provided.

Prerequisites: BIF245 / Objects and Data Abstraction and MTH207 / Discrete Structures I

BIF375 / Database Management Systems [3-0, 3 cr.]

This course is an introduction to the fundamental concepts and techniques of database systems. Topics include database architecture, data independence, data modeling, physical and relational database design, functional dependency, normal forms, query languages, query optimization, database security, and transactions at the SQL level.

Prerequisite: BIF245 / Objects and Data Abstraction and MTH 201 / Calculus III

BIF415 / Introduction to Bioinformatics [3-0, 3 cr.]

This course provides an introduction to modern computational practices in bioinformatics. Topics include computational methods for: fragment assembly; sequence alignment; modeling evolution; gene finding; gene expression; protein structure and function.

Prerequisite: BIF310 / Data Structures & Algorithms

BIF524 / Data Mining [3-0, 3 cr.]

This course covers the fundamental techniques and applications for mining high-throughput data. Topics include related concepts from machine learning, information retrieval and statistics, techniques and algorithms for classification, clustering, and association rules.

Prerequisite: Senior Standing