Education
MMC offers:
- Courses in molecular medicine for students and postgraduates in medicine and biology;
- Specialised trainings and specialisations in molecular genetics;
- Expert help to researchers in project design, management and analysis;
- Consultation help to governmental and policy making institutions;
- Journal Subscriptions;
- Regular Seminars;
- Annual Conferences;
- Open Door Days.
MMC has successfully joined the training processes by offering the technologically adequate and scientifically sound facilities in the field of human molecular genetics and its application to medicine.
Since 2000, 40 MSc and 17 PhD students have been trained and performed their graduation thesis at MMC, NGL and the Department of Medical Chemistry and Biochemistry. There is a collaboration established between the Department of Informatics, Faculty of Mathematics, Sofia University St. K. Ohridski and the MMC for the MSc program in Biomedical Informatics. At present we have 6 PhD students in molecular biology, genetics and biochemistry and 5 new MSc students. In addition, the research groups include 18 clinical PhD students, actively contributing to their research.
MMC also offers opportunities to foreign undergraduate medical students to spend their exchange practices under the partnership of Medical University - Sofia with the Research Exchange Program of IFMSA - International Federation of Medical Students Associations. In the period 2009 - 2010 we have hosted 5 students from Ukraine, Portugal, Czech Republic, Italy and Spain that have got acquainted with different molecular biology techniques, used routinely in the field of molecular medicine. They were also introduced to the scientific profile of each of the research teams within MMC and had the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in the laboratory.
Since 2006 members of the MMC and NGL have introduced a new Molecular Medicine: Molecular Basis and Diagnosis of Inherited Disorders course for students in medicine and pharmacy.
For the period 2008-2009 MMC has provided short-term specialized training in molecular genetic techniques to 5 postgraduate researchers/clinicians from Medical Universities of Varna, Pleven and Stara Zagora . We also have provided opportunities to clinical specialists undergoing PhD program in different departments of Medical University - Sofia to perform their PhD related research tasks in the field of molecular genetics at MMC. At present 8 PhD students from the Departments of Neurology, Endocrinology, Gastroenterology, Surgery, Oncology and Urology are working on their PhD thesis in the fields of neurogenetics, cancer genetics and pharmacogenetics.
