Course Descriptions

MBS 710 - Current Issues in the Biosciences

Lectures and literature discussion, along with case studies, covering recent advances in the fields of microbiology, biochemistry, and genetics, and how these advances are being commercialized and applied to the development of products and services in a range of fields ranging from agribusiness, pharmaceuticals, nanotechnology, neutraceuticals, and so forth. 

MBS 711 - Principles of Molecular Science

This course covers the biochemistry, cellular biology, genetics, and molecular biology of biological systems. Although the primary focus of the class is mammalian systems, plants and microbial systems will also be considered. 

MBS 712 - Leadership and Teaming in the Biosciences

In this course, students will be introduced to basic principles of leadership and management and will be provided with the skills needed to successfully manage cross-disciplinary teams typically found in the biosciences. Communication and presentation skills, along with persuasion, negotiation and conflict resolution techniques will be taught and practiced. Students will develop their own professional development plans and career goals. 

MBS 720 - Intellectual Property and the Regulatory Process

This course surveys a variety of legal and regulatory issues including business formation and dissolution, securities law, mergers, corporate debt, and forms of doing business; business regulation, including FDA, FTC, USDA, HHS, and other organizations involved in regulating scientific research and business; intellectual property including patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, non-disclosure agreements, licensing, and contract law; and the role of corporate counsel, among other things. 

MBS 721 - Bioscience Innovation

This course will introduce students to the entire life cycle of the bioscience technology commercialization process, beginning with invention disclosure to intellectual property protection, to determining the marketability and market potential for the invention, to addressing whether the discover is better commercialized as a license or start-up to sources and terms of phased funding for the venture. 

MBS 722 - Principles of Biological Systems

This course applies the material from Principles of Molecular Sciences to a consideration of how biological systems are regulated at the physiologic, genomic, proteomic, and metabolomic levels in both normal and diseased states. 

MBS 723 - Finance and Marketing for Scientific Ventures

This course will introduce students to principles of finance and marketing that relate directly to scientific ventures. Topics in finance might include the pros and cons of debt vs. equity financing, venture capital, IPO's, mergers, investment principles, cash management techniques and cash budgeting, lease vs. purchasing decisions, investment term sheets, and financial statement basics. Topics in marketing might include the role of distribution channels, market size, target markets, life expectancy of the technology, industry and demographic trends, competitor analysis, regulatory and economic changes, new-to-the-world product and service pricing, and marketing research. 

MBS 730 - Principles of Experimental Design and Analysis in the Biosciences

This course will introduce the statistical principles behind the techniques commonly used in cell biology, genetics, molecular biology and biochemistry research. Considerations regarding data collection, clinical trial design, data analysis, and proper interpretation of results will be presented. Institutional review and grant administration will also be covered.

MBS 731 - Principles of Biotechnology

Application of principles of molecular biology, genetics, and biochemistry to research in the medical, agricultural, biofuel, and food science fields, along with associated ethical, legal and societal impacts of the technologies. 

MBS 733 - Advanced Science Lab

This course is to provide a realistic laboratory experience for the students in which they will be given a laboratory project and be expected to 1) examine the literature to understand the topic of the research project and 2) keep a laboratory notebook of the experiments performed, data collected, and the evaluation of those data. The research project will require the student to learn basic laboratory techniques for safe practices in the laboratory and techniques directly related to microbiology and molecular biology. 

MBS 740 - Foundations of Drug Therapy

This course will familiarize students with general concepts and techniques in drug therapy, including what general classes of drugs do, drug delivery methods, drug actions and interactions, selected drug therapy categories, cancer genomics and so forth. The process of drug discovery and development will also be covered. 

MBS 742 - Market Opportunity Assessment - Capstone Course

This capstone practicum course is a modification of a core course in Creighton's NSF-funded Bioscience Entrepreneurship Program curriculum. With the tools gained from preceding courses, students, working in cross-disciplinary teams, will write a business plan for assessing market opportunities and commercializing via licensing or start-up a bioscience technology. This plan will involve (as appropriate) a description of the project, research into industry trends and competitor analysis, description of the firm's IP position, management team required to complete the project, target market size, operations, time line, potential funding sources, financial projections, and critical risks. Each team will have both a science and a business mentor.