Southeastern Regional Lipid Conference (SERLC) 48th Annual Conference
November 13-15, 2013
High Hampton Inn & Country Club, Cashiers, North Carolina
Registration & Abstract Deadline: September 27, 2013
Photo Contest Submission Deadline: September 27, 2013
The South Eastern Regional Lipid Conference (SERLC) is one of the largest and most established academic meetings on lipid biology research in the United States. The main themes are sphingolipids, phospholipids, and eicosanoids, their analysis by state of the art lipidomics, and their biological functions in cell signaling, cell biology and in physiological and pathophysiological processes, including metabolic and infectious diseases, immunology and cancer. This year’s conference special focus theme is inflammation. Additional topics covered are the structural and functional analysis of unique sphingolipids and phospholipids in plants, and fungi. Travel Awards are available for students and post-doctoral fellows to cover registration and travel costs.
More
Congratulations to the new Lipid Division Award winners!
This year’s Shaw Young Investigator in Lipid Research Award Winner is Mary L. Kraft at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Kraft’s research focuses on using mass spectrometry to image lipids in cellular systems. She has developed and applied new and important methodologies to assess the organization of cholesterol and sphingolipids in the plasma membrane.
This year’s Avanti Award in Lipids Winner is Sandra L. Hofmann at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. Dr. Hofmann’s research focuses on the metabolism of proteins modified by lipids. This work has lead to a better understanding of how mutations in the palmitoyl protein thioesterase gene contribute to a group of hereditary brain disorders called the neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses.
Check out the new thematic series on Fat-Soluble Vitamins in the Journal of Lipid Research. This series is introduced by Mary L. Chang ASBMB Publications Manager for the Journal of Lipid Research in the August issue of ASBMB today:
Vitamins A, D, E and K are the four fat-soluble vitamins required to maintain good health in higher organisms. The July issue of the Journal of Lipid Research marks the beginning of a thematic series on these vitaminscoordinated by editorial board member William S. Blaner of Columbia University. The special section in the July issue includes an introductory editorial by Blaner and four reviews from experts on vitamin A. Subsequent issues this year will explore vitamins D, E and K.
In developing countries, vitamin A deficiency remains a major public health concern, and much research is focused on identifying populations most at risk. Coordinated efforts in molecular research to develop vitamin-A–fortified plant sources could help eradicate this public health problem. Epidemiologic studies are being conducted to understand how dietary intake of the vitamin might be related to development or incidence of certain diseases. The four thematic reviews in July’s JLR focus on vitamin A’s molecular actions and its metabolism.
In one review, Abdulkerim Eroğlu and Earl H. Harrison of Ohio State of University explore the research insights on carotenoid conversion to vitamin A, carotenoid metabolism to create apo-carotenoids, and the actions and metabolism of carotenoids in higher animals.
Columbia University’s Sheila M. O’Byrne and William S. Blaner’s contribution to the series examines how vitamin A is stored in the body as retinyl esters, how they evolved, and how mobilization of these stores is achieved through the actions of specific vitamin-A–binding proteins and enzymes.
Natalia Y. Kedishvili of University of Alabama at Birmingham reviews what is known of the formation of retinoic acid and how it is broken down and eliminated from cells and tissues.
In the fourth and final review, Ziad Al Tanoury, Aleksandr Piskunov and Cecile Rochette-Egly of France’s Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire discuss what is known about the retinoic acid receptors, how retinoic acid can affect genomic expression and the nongenomic effects of vitamin A.
ASBMB science writer Raj Mukhopadhyay has written some fascinating lipid-related blog posts. Check out one of the latest posts showcasing research indicating that gut bacteria may be a source of male steroid hormones. There are many more fascinating posts to browse on her blog Wild Types!
International Conference on the Bioscience of Lipids Meeting Announcement
On behalf of the organizers Prof. Antonio Moschetta (University of Bari) and Maurizio Crestani (University of Milano) we are pleased to inform you that the 54th ICBL Meeting - Linking Transcription to Physiology in Lipidomics will be held at the Sheraton Nicolaus Hotel in Bari, Italy from 17 to 21 September 2013.
The International Conference on the Bioscience of Lipids (ICBL) provides an international forum for the presentation and discussion of fundamental investigations in all aspects of lipid research and related fields. ICBL attracts leading scientists from all continents and encourages young investigators to present their work in lectures and posters giving them the opportunity to meet and discuss with prominent scientists in the field. For over fifty years the ICBL has taken place in different countries, most of the time in Europe although in the past some editions of the conference were organized in the United States, Japan, Israel and in 2012 it took place in Canada.
The Congress program will focus on several topics regarding the field of lipids with presentations by renowned national and international specialists. This will be an occasion for established knowledge and new trends to be converted into action and success in the scientific and professional scenarios.
The Congress Presidents, Prof. Antonio Moschetta (University of Bari) and Prof. Maurizio Crestani (University of Milan), together with the ICBL Steering Committee have assembled a very ambitious program with top scientists working on cutting edge topics in the field of lipids and there will be opportunity for oral presentations from selected abstracts.
For further information and registration, please contact the Organizing Secretariat:
Centro Italiano Congressi CIC SUD
FEBS-EMBO Joint Lecture
Dear Colleagues,
We like to direct your attention to the next Corsica Membrane Course: the forthcoming FEBS-EMBO joint lecture course on "Biomembranes: Molecular Architecture, Dynamics and Function". The course will be held from June 10 to June 20, 2013 at the Institut d'Etudes Scientifiques in Cargèse, a picturesque little village on the west coast of Corsica (France) 50 km north of Ajaccio. The course features lectures, tutorials, poster sessions and workshops on various aspects of membranology such as: membrane lipid metabolism, transport and function; membrane protein synthesis, folding and targeting, transmembrane transport etc., both in bacteria and in eukaryotic cells.
The course is immensely popular among students and senior scientists alike because of the great blend of superb scientific lectures, open air poster sessions, wild beaches and Corsican wine.
Places on the course are open preferentially to senior Ph.D. students and postdoctoral fellows. A number of travel grants is available. Further details and application forms can be found at our website: web.science.uu.nl/cargese2013
We guarantee your students and postdocs a scientifically and socially exciting course, and hope to welcome them in Cargese!
With best regards,
The organizers
Gerrit van Meer, chair, Utrecht
Ulrich Hartl, co-chair, Martinsried
Jos Op den Kamp, for further information: j.a.f.opdenkamp@uu.nl
Patricia Bassereau, Paris
Tom A. Rapoport, Boston
Bill Wickner, Hanover
The deadline for registration is April 15. Click Here for a PDF file containing more information.
The Lipid Corner is proud to announce the winners of this years ASBMB Awards in Lipid Biochemistry:
The Walter A. Shaw Young Investigator Award in Lipid Research has been awarded to Tobias Walther at the Yale School of Medicine. Dr. Walther's research is focused on understanding the regulation of lipid droplets and on how the organization of the plasma membrane regulates protein function and localization. He has significantly contributed to our understanding of how lipid droplets are regulated in response to various cellular signals. His award lecture, to be given at the ASBMB annual meeting in Boston in April is entitled Cell biology of neutral lipid storage.
The Award in Lipids has been awarded to Susan A. Henry at Cornell University. Dr. Henry's research is focused on better understanding the regulation of lipid metabolism and lipid-mediated signaling. She has significantly advanced our understanding of how changes in the availability of specific lipids and lipid metabolism regulates transcription and signal transduction networks in the cell. Her award lecture, to be given at the ASBMB annual meeting in Boston in April is entitled The dynamic roles of phospholipid and triacylglycerol metabolism in regulation and signaling in yeast.
Congratulations to Dr. Walther and Dr. Henry!
The Lipid Corner is proud to announce Vytas Bankaitis as the new Director of the ASBMB Lipid Research Division.
Vytas is the E. L. Wehner-Welch Foundation chairman in chemistry at the Texas A&M University Health Science Center Department of Molecular and Cellular Medicine in College Station, Texas. Vytas' research has contributed greatly to our understanding of phospholipid biology, especially phospholipid transfer proteins. Please see this recent article in ASBMB Today for more on this exciting appointment.
https://www.asbmb.org/asbmbtoday/asbmbtoday_article.aspx?id=23879
SAVE THE DATE: Bioactive Lipids in Cancer, Inflammation, and Related Diseases
13th International Conference
November 3-6, 2013
San Juan, Puerto Rico
http://www.bioactivelipids.org
2012 Frontiers in Lipid Biology Attendee Photograph
Click Here to download a copy of the Frontiers in Lipid Biology attendee photograph taken in beautiful Banff, Alberta, Canada!
File size is: 9.4 megs
Dr. Charles C. Sweeley
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Dr. Charles (Chuck) C. Sweeley on September 21, 2012. Dr. Sweeley was a pillar of the sphingolipid field and was instrumental in developing mass spectrometry for the measurements of lipids. He was chair of the Department of Biochemistry at Michigan State University from 1979-1985. Additionally, he was the recipient of several distinguished awards including a Guggenheim fellowship.
For more information, Dr. Sweeley's obituary can be found at:http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/lsj/obituary.aspx?n=charles-crawford-sweeley&pid=160046703&fhid=11047#fbLoggedOut.
John York named chair of the Vanderbilt Department of Biochemistry
John York, Ph.D., Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and the Cancer Biology Professor of Pharmacology and Biochemistry at Duke University Medical Center, has been named the new chair of the Vanderbilt Department of Biochemistry. York will join Vanderbilt this summer as the Natalie Overall Warren Professor of Biochemistry.
Click here to read the full story.