Lipidology: bridge between basic science and clinical pathology. (December 2008)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bankaitis, Vytas A
• Is Part Of: Future lipidology. Volume 3:Number 6(2008)
• Page Start: 611
• Page End: 623
• Publication Date: 2008-12
• Subjects: Lipids -- Periodicals; 616.3997
• DOI: 10.2217/17460875.3.6.611
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1746-0875

Abstract

The 49th meeting of the International Conference for the Bioscience of Lipids (ICBL) was convened at the end of August 2008 in the historic city of Maastricht in The Netherlands. The meeting organizers (Jan Glatz, Joost Luiken and Edouard Bevers) crafted a program directed at bridging an atmosphere of intense science with the ambitious goal of exploring translational scientific themes. Hence, the title of the conference – Lipidology: Bridge Between Basic Science and Clinical Pathology. The purpose of the meeting was to present the most recent advances on lipid bioscience, as these relate to human health and disease, from both the basic science and the clinical perspectives. In regards to this goal, the meeting was an unqualified success. The seven scientific sessions of the conference ranged from 'Cell Membrane Organization and Dynamics' to 'Lipid Droplets as Multifunctional Organelles', from 'Lipids and their Dynamics in Intracellular Transport' to 'Fatty Acids, Lipids and the Metabolic Syndrome', and from 'Lipids and Inflammation' to 'Lipid Sensing and Lipid Sensors'. The final session was entitled 'Lysosomal Lipid Metabolism'. There were also four poster sessions. In total, the conference registered 251 attendees with 145 presented abstracts. These divided themselves into 118 poster and 27 oral presentations. The demographics were also broad. Although the ICBL remains deeply steeped in its European origins, the growing cosmopolitan flavor at the ICBL was fully evident in Maastricht. A total of 25 countries were represented in the attendee roster and a particularly robust contingent of our scientific colleagues from Japan was on display.