Prof. Yang was my favorite professor this quarter, and PHYSCI 149 is a class I have to recommend. It's an interesting, holistic mix of (primarily) the bottom-up factors (genes, metabolic pathways, etc.) that contribute to metabolic diseases (i.e. CVD, CAD, diabetes, obesity, atherosclerosis) with asides that include the immune system and environmental influences. The course concludes with systems biology and omics, which is becoming increasingly important in personalized medicine -- for those interested in research, it's a light review with interesting selected examples, and for those interested more in clinical aspects, it's a great way to dip your toes into this field.

The workload throughout the course is reasonable, and Prof. Yang tries her best to facilitate meaningful discussions during class and office hours while also sharing interesting readings she finds relevant to the course. Note that there are quizzes on the weekly readings, which can be a tad time-consuming to finish through before you get used to knowing what to look for. I also had some conferences to attend this quarter, and both Prof. Yang and the TA (shoutout to Jade for being the chillest TA I've had in a while) were accommodating with coordinating absences as lecture + discussion attendance is 25% of the grade. Final was optional again this quarter.

Breakdown:
Discussion Attendance - 10%
Lecture Attendance - 15%
Paper Presentation - 15%
Weekly Homework - 30%
Lit Review Paper - 15%
Final Exam - 15% (opt.)

Dr. Yang is amazing. She was very considerate during the pandemic and really just wanted us to learn something new. She constantly updated her slides with the latest research and was super relevant. The class was not overly difficult, but the material was not always easy to understand.