On November 10, 2023 the Rutgers Center for Lipid Research (RCLR) held its 8th annual symposium under the theme, “The fat-soluble vitamins strike back.”
The symposium, which was held at the New Jersey Institute for Food, Nutrition, and Health on the Rutgers–New Brunswick campus, was attended by more than 100 participants. The annual event drew researchers from all three Rutgers campuses, along with scientists from neighboring universities as well as local Pharma and biotech companies.
Poster session the 8th Annual Lipid Research Symposium at IFNH.
The annual event brought together an outstanding group of established and early-career investigators who shared their knowledge, results and insights into how fat-soluble vitamins are involved in various physiological processes.
The organizing committee for this year’s event was led by Joseph Dixon, associate professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences, who served as chair, and included included Loredana Quadro, professor in the Department of Food Science, and Judith Storch, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences.
Igor Shmarakov, assistant professor in the Department of Animal Science.
The speaker sessions covered a range of vitamin-related topics. Li-Na Wei (University of Minnesota) started the symposium with a presentation on non-canonical signaling of retinoic acid in health and diseases.
Presenters included Sylvia Christakos (Rutgers University, Newark) spoke about new insights into vitamin D receptor signaling in intestinal biology. Danny Manor (Case Western Reserve University) spoke of recent insights into the actions, transport, and regulation of vitamin E. Kathleen Berkner (Cleveland Clinic) presented studies on vitamin K-mediated activation of proteins whose functions are essential for health and disrupted in disease. The final presentation was made Igor Shmarakov, assistant professor in the Department of Animal Sciences, who spoke on the cellular dissection of vitamin A metabolism in the lung.
Ruta Jog and Geordan J. Stukey were awarded the George M. and Maureen D. Carman Prize in Lipids, an endowed prize awarded for outstanding research achievement in the area of lipid biochemistry. It is designed to provide financial assistance and encourage lipid-related research of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows and associates in the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences.
George Carman, center, with the winners of the Lipid Prize: Ruta Jog and Geordan J. Stukey.
Best poster awards were presented to Tanisha Dhakephalkar, Priyanka Sharma, Ruta Jog and Geordan J. Stukey.
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 visit rclr.rutgers.edu.
