Obesity: From Cell to Patient

ABSTRACT Support is requested for a Keystone Symposia conference entitled Obesity: From Cell to Patient, organized by Drs. Kevin L. Grove, Rachel L. Batterham and Shane T. Hentges. The conference will be held in British Columbia, Canada from January 29- February 2, 2021.

Obesity is a chronic disease affecting millions of people world-wide, and is often associated with numerous co- morbidities, including Type II diabetes, liver disease and cardiovascular disease.

This conference aims to gather the world leaders in obesity research and discuss numerous topics- from the cell to the patient- as they relate to obesity.

Obesity is an annual topic for Keystone Symposia and is considered to be one of the most critical in the field and the previous Keystone Symposia conferences have been heavily focused on basic research.

Therefore, this conference program particularly aims to address this gap by providing a greater balance with clinical/translational research on the program.

Additionally, there are sessions that have a special focus on the gut/brain axis, including the microbiota, as there is emerging research in this area that has made transformational steps in our understanding of etiology of this disease, as well as in treatment.

Moreover, there is strong evidence that the gut/brain axis is important not just for appetitive behavior but also energy homeostasis, blood glucose and even emotional state.

Finally, this conference is being held jointly with the annual diabetes conference, Diabetes: Many Faces of the Disease, as there is obvious overlap in these fields. Therefore, the program will contain joint sessions and even a joint Keynote speaker.

With this pairing, it is anticipated to draw the leaders in this field from around the world, as well as the next generation of future scientists.

Connecting scientists in basic, transitional, clinical and pharmaceutical research will be crucial to moving the field forward.