Medicine and Life Sciences Summer School

Urinary system (July only)

Following an introduction to the urinary system and its role in the body, you will conduct a practical urine analysis using dipsticks. As a group, you will develop management strategies for ensuring healthy kidney function.

• Summarising the urinary system.
• Studying the structure of kidney nephron and identifying the compounds absorbed/secreted in each area.
• Understanding the process of urine production, transfer and storage.
• Using urine dipstick testing to diagnose basic disorders

Understanding Endocrinology (August only)

Hormones affect every organ in the body, and regulate important physiological processes including growth, metabolism, stress and reproduction. You will investigate what happens when certain hormonal systems go wrong, and how we can diagnose and treat endocrine disease.    

Personalised Medicine: Why Genes Matter 

The traditional one-size-fits-all treatment approach in medicine is ineffective for some patients due to unique genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors. Our genes are what makes us unique so by profiling our genetic make-up and unique characteristics, an effective patient centred approach can be taken. Personalised medicine is transforming the landscape of healthcare by tailoring treatments to individual genetic profiles.

In this session, we will begin by unravelling the basics of genetics, providing a solid foundation for understanding how our genes influence health and disease. From there, we will journey into the cutting-edge realm of cancer research, discovering how scientists are developing new, tailored treatments that promise to revolutionise patient care. You will be encouraged to actively engage in discussions about the future of personalised medicine. We will explore various innovative approaches, weighing their potential benefits and drawbacks.

• ABCDE assessment
• Measuring blood pressure
• Measuring blood glucose levels
• NEWS scoring
• Basic life support
• Heart scan
• Neck scan
• CPR
• Becoming an emergency leader

• Welcome;
• Allocation of safety gear, into groups and benches;
• H&S training, micropipette (Gilson) handling
• Fly genetics theory & practical discussion;
• Experiment #1: identification of gene providing lacZ activity;
• Experiment #2: identification of location of lacZ expression in modified fly larvae – demonstration;
• Optional life sciences guest lecture;
• Experiment #3: visualisation of Green Fluorescence Protein (GFP) plasmid containing strain;
• Experiment #4: thermo-sensitivity assay;
• Making sense of results.

• Experiment #5: genomic DNA preparation;
• Experiment #6: PCR amplification of fly DNA
• Experiment #7: agarose gel electrophoresis
• Making sense of the results from Experiments 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 (discussion & conclusion).
• Making sense of results – identification of the genotypes according to the Drosophila strains.
• Prizes and farewell.

The Global Summer School Medicine and Life Sciences 2025 sample timetable will show you when your lessons will be taking place, as well as the social activities. This timetable is subject to change.