Course Summary

Learn the complete workflow of RNA-Seq, from essential biological principles and next-generation sequencing (NGS) concepts to practical data analysis. This no-coding course is designed for medical and biomedical learners who want to confidently perform RNA-Seq data analysis.

Course Description

This course introduces you to the world of NGS and transcriptomics in a clear, step-by-step manner. The focus is on building a broad conceptual understanding and hands-on analysis skills that empower you to perform RNA-Seq data analysis independently, without getting lost in complex statistics, technologies, or coding.

The course begins with the fundamental principles of gene expression and NGS, provides an overview of the RNA-Seq workflow, and then guides you through the complete RNA-Seq analysis pipeline using a user-friendly analysis environment that requires no coding skills.

Through detailed instructions with recorded practical videos and lectures in Bangla, live interactive sessions, curated external resources, readings, worksheets, and quizzes, you will learn to perform key steps in RNA-Seq data analysis, including quality control, read alignment, gene expression quantification, differential expression, and enrichment analysis. A real published dataset from an international peer-reviewed journal will be used throughout the course, allowing you to practice each step of the workflow in a structured, hands-on manner, and eventually reproduce the results of the published paper. In the final phase, you will complete a capstone project, presenting your findings in a format that simulates a research presentation, thus building your confidence and competence to independently perform RNA-Seq analyses.

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

• Explain key concepts and terminology in NGS and RNA-Seq.
• Perform RNA-Seq data analysis from raw reads to biological interpretation without any coding.
• Present your RNA-Seq analysis results in a format that mimics a research presentation.

This course is ideal for:

Undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and professionals in medicine, biology, and related fields with no prior coding or bioinformatics experience. It is particularly beneficial for those who want to conduct research using RNA-Seq or prepare for higher studies and research opportunities, such as MS, PhD, or postdoctoral positions in competitive research programs.

Instructor:

This course will be taught by Dr. Md Anwarul Karim (Mijan), currently a Postdoctoral Researcher at Baylor College of Medicine, USA. Dr. Karim graduated with an MBBS from Chittagong Medical College and earned his PhD in Genetics from the University of Hong Kong.

Throughout his PhD and postdoctoral training, he has extensively analyzed next-generation sequencing (NGS) data, including whole-exome sequencing, bulk RNA-Seq, single-nucleus RNA-Seq (snRNA-Seq), and Xenium spatial transcriptomics datasets. During his PhD, he identified novel candidate genes associated with Hirschsprung disease using whole-exome sequencing. He is currently conducting research on Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 1.

In addition to his doctoral and postdoctoral training, Dr. Karim has completed numerous specialized courses and workshops at internationally renowned institutions, including the Wellcome Genome Campus (Hinxton, Cambridge, UK) and the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (Dresden, Germany).

Dr. Karim also has extensive experience in teaching and e-learning through his work at the University of Hong Kong and Chattogram International Medical College. He has authored more than 15 peer-reviewed research articles in international journals and has presented his research at multiple international scientific conferences.

To view the instructor’s complete curriculum vitae, please visit this page.