Laboratory of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, UTH
Brief Description
The Laboratory of Biochemistry belongs to the Sector of “Basic and Applied Biomedical Sciences” and has been in operation since the foundation of the Medical Faculty in Larissa (1992). It also covers the activities of the Laboratory of Chemistry, which does not exist independently. The Laboratory is responsible for teaching Medical Chemistry and Biochemistry to the medical students in the first four semesters providing the following courses: Medical Chemistry (1st semester), Biochemistry of Enzymes & Human Metabolism (2nd semester), Biochemistry of Gene Expression, Tissues & Human Functions (3rd semester) and Clinical Biochemistry (4th semester). It also participates in the organization and teaching of courses in three Postgraduate Study Programs of the Faculty of Medicine. The Laboratory also provides practical laboratory training (supervision of graduate Theses) to undergraduate students of the Departments of Medicine and Biochemistry – Biotechnology as well as to postgraduate students of the “Clinical Applications of Molecular Medicine” program. It also offers doctoral (PhD) training to graduates of Medicine, Biology, Biochemistry and Chemistry. The Laboratory was responsible for organizing the study program and teaching of 13 courses in the Interdepartmental Extended University Program “Medical Biochemistry” which operated in the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Thessaly between 1998 and 2004 and produced 36 graduates. The Laboratory is equipped and has the know-how to perform research in the fields of Biochemistry, Molecular & Cellular Biology and Analytical Chemistry. The common research project of the faculty members of the Laboratory is the study of the Molecular Mechanisms of the Cellular Response to Hypoxia with particular emphasis on the activation and function of the hypoxia inducible transcription factors HIF and their involvement in carcinogenesis.