Attendees at Rutgers Center for Lipid Research fourth annual symposium.
On November 9, 2018 the Rutgers Center for Lipid Research (RCLR) held its fourth annual symposium, with this year’s theme “Lipid Diversity and Human Disease.” Chaired by Judith Storch, distinguished professor of nutritional sciences and George M. Carman, board of governors professor of food science and founding director of the Center, the symposium brought together an outstanding group of scientists who shared their knowledge, results, and insights into how different classes of lipids mediate normal and pathophysiological functions related to human disease.
The symposium was held at the New Jersey Institute for Food, Nutrition, and Health on the Rutgers–New Brunswick campus. The speaker sessions covered diverse topics comprising different lipid-based diseases. The featured speakers and topics included:
Nihal Altan-Bonnet of the NHLBI/NIH spoke about how vesicle-cloaked viruses optimize viral transmission; Stephen L. Sturley of Barnard College, Columbia University spoke about modifiers of genetic disorders, using the monogenic neurodegenerative lipidosis NPC as a paradigm; Anna Nicolaou from the University of Manchester, UK spoke about the impact of fatty acids and their metabolites on skin health and disease; Steven Farber of Carnegie Science presented research on live imaging of zebrafish intestinal lipid flux through lipoproteins and lipid droplets; Richard Gross of Washington University School of Medicine spoke about the pleiotropic roles of plasmalogens in membrane structure and function; and Nicolas Bazan of Louisiana State University School of Medicine spoke about the elovanoids, a novel class of omega-3 lipid mediators that are neuroprotective.
A highlight of the symposium was the poster session that featured students, postdoctoral fellows, and senior scientists. Five student and postdoc presenters were awarded $500 travel awards by a faculty judging panel. The symposium, which was attended by 109 participants, drew researchers from the three Rutgers campuses along with scientists from NYU, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Thomas Jefferson University, Columbia University, and local pharmaceutical companies.
The RCLR is a center of the New Jersey Institute for Food, Nutrition, and Health that promotes multidisciplinary research on the biochemical, biophysical, cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in lipid metabolism, and extends this information to the underpinnings of lipid-based diseases such as obesity, lipodystrophy, diabetes, and heart disease. RCLR fosters interaction among faculty, postdoctoral associates, and students across the university. For more information on the RCLR, visit rclr.rutgers.edu.
From left to right, Harini Sampath (Rutgers University), Laura Beth McIntire (Columbia University), and Itsaso Garcia-Arcos (SUNY Downstate Medical Center).
Poster presenter Edward Kane, 92 years young (NeuroLipid Research).
From left to right, Olga Ilnytska (Rutgers University), Nicolas Bazan (Louisiana State University School of Medicine), and Patricia Kane (NeuroLipid Research).
The poster session awardees, from left to right, are Azam Hassaninasab, Maryam Honarbakhsh, Nicole Savio, Heli Xu, and Janeesh Plakkal Ayyappan. George Carman and Judith Storch are the bookends.
