The Havel Lecture was named after Richard J. Havel because he did more than anyone else to make the conference vibrant. For many years, he organized the meeting and always energized the scientific discussions.

Richard J. Havel was known to many as "Mr. Lipoprotein, USA." He, more than any other investigator, unraveled the complex metabolism of the plasma lipoproteins beginning with his pioneering work in the Anfinsen lab at the National Heart Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, where he was one of the first Clinical Associates from 1953–1956. His manuscript on the ultracentrifulgal separation of lipoproteins is one of the most frequently cited papers in the scientific literature, rivaling Lowry's paper on protein measurement.

Havel published over 300 manuscripts. Their quality is attested to by his election to the National Academy of Sciences in 1983; the Institute of Medicine in 1989; and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1992. He received many other honors including the Bristol-Myers Squibb Award for Distinguished Achievement in Nutrition Research and the Distinguished Achievement Award from the AHA Council on Arteriosclerosis.

The first Havel Lecture was held on March 6, 2002, at the Deuel Conference on Lipids in Borrego Springs, California.

Past Havel lectures

2020

• Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz

Dynamics of membrane trafficking, sorting and compartmentalization within eukaryotic cells

2019

• Jake Lusis

The power of natural variation: Sex differences and mitochondrial functions

2018

• Michael Czech

Crosstalk between fat metabolism and neuronal signaling

2017

• Peter Tontonoz

Transcriptional control of lipid metabolism in physiology and disease

2016

• Sir Stephen O'Rahilly

Obesity and insulin resistance; lessons from human genetics

2015

• Thomas Sudhof

Brown & Goldstein-inspired science off field: Lipid membrane fusion at the synapse

2014

• Rudolf Zechner

Lipolysis — more than just the breakdown of fat

2013

• Rick Lifton

From human genetics to validated therapeutic targets

2012

• Gokhan Hotamisligil

Inflammation, endoplasmic reticulum stress and lipids: Emerging networks regulating metabolism

2011

• Christopher K. Glass

Oxysterol regulation of macrophage gene expression

2010

• David J. Mangelsdorf

Nuclear receptor control of lipid metabolism

2009

• Stephen G. Young

Adventures in lipid metabolism

2008

• Helen H. Hobbs

Going to extrames to identify genetic variations contributing to cardiovascular risk

2007

• Ronald Evans

PPARdelta and the Marathon Mouse: Running around physiolog

2006

• David Russell

The enzymes of cholesterol breakdown

2005

• Johann Deisenhofer

Structure of the LDL receptor

2004

• Jeffrey M. Friedman

Oxysterol regulation of macrophage gene expression

2003

• Bruce Spiegelman

Transcriptional control of energy and glucose metabolism

2002

• Michael S. Brown and Joseph L. Goldstein

SREBPs: Master regulators of lipid metabolism