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Many of the courses I have taught and continue to teach,
I developed (some as Topics courses) and introduced
into our curriculum. They include Human Neuroanatomy,
Neurobiology, Biology of AIDS, Trends in Neurobiology,
NeuroAIDS, Workshop in Culturing Primary Brain Cells,
and Methods in Neuroanatomy. One of these courses (PCB
4232 Biology of AIDS) received special recognition in
October of 2002 by the Association of American Colleges
and Universities and is included in the National Resource
Leadership Database. This is an online searchable database
of courses that integrate HIV/AIDS and related health
issues into the college curriculum. Each year that I
teach the Biology of AIDS course, I am reminded of its
relevance to our students, academically and socially.
In the late 80’s as HIV ran rampant in communities,
I realized that our students needed to be informed.
I knew very little about HIV/AIDS then, so I always
had a special guest lecturer (not part of the syllabus)
for my Human Anatomy class, who provided basic information
and answered questions. I was always astounded by the
misinformation embedded in the students’ questions.
In 1996, I took a sabbatical at Morehouse School of
Medicine in Atlanta that would allow me to spend a year
learning about HIV/AIDS and incorporating research techniques
that I could use in my research program. Because I am
a neuroanatomist, I had to acquire new knowledge in
immunology, virology, epidemiology and psychosocial
biology. When I returned, I worked on developing two
related courses, Biology of AIDS and NeuroAIDS (a Topics
course). For a few years, Biology of AIDS was offered
as a Topics course, but became an established course
in our curriculum in 2001. Every spring, PCB 4232 reaches
its enrollment capacity shortly after registration begins.
Teaching this course is one of the most worthwhile things
that I do here at FIU!
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