Beige and Brown Fat: Basic Biology and Novel Therapeutics

Keystone Symposia, Silverthorne CO

Investigators

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Support is requested for a Keystone Symposia meeting entitled Beige and Brown Fat: Basic Biology and Novel Therapeutics, organized by Bruce M. Spiegelman and Sven Enerback. The meeting will be held in Snowbird, Utah from April 17-22, 2015. The epidemic of obesity and diabetes has become a world-wide health risk and these metabolic disorders are a direct threat to the health and economic well-being of many nations. Unfortunately, education about diet and exercise are not sufficient to meet this emergency and new therapies are badly needed. Brown fat has emerged as one of the few genuinely new approaches to these problems. Brown fat exists in most or all adult humans and can dissipate caloric energy and attenuate both obesity and diabetes in experimental animals. The importance of brown fat (in all of its types) in whole body energy balance relating to obesity and diabetes is now settled science in experimental models, as is the existence of brown fat in adult humans. It is therefore critical to identify the pathways that control both the formation of brown and beige fats as well as their physiological function. Improved imaging in brown fat will be critical for assessment of human biology and the development of therapeutic approaches that will lead to clinical trials is of utmost importance. Therefore, the goal of this Keystone Symposia meeting is to bring together top experts from academia, biotech and large Pharma to address new pathways controlling brown fat development and thermogenesis. In this regard, attendees will delve into the types of brown fat cells, beige, classical brown and others. The organizers have placed special emphasis on emerging approaches, both biological and chemical, that can manipulate these cells for therapeutic purposes. Therefore, it is anticipated that this meeting will nucleate expanded efforts in both academia and pharma to explore this promising research area. This meeting will also expose students and fellows to the problems and potential solutions that are available.