15:30 - 17:00

Registration

17:00 - 18:00

Introduction - Matthew Cockerill,
BioMed Central

Leptin and the physiological circuitry of weight control
Jeffrey Friedman, The Rockefeller University, USA

18:00 – 20:00

Poster session with drinks

08:30 - 10:30

Session 1. Adipogenesis and insulin resistance. Chair: Richard Bergman

 Keynote

Irisin and the therapeutic benefits of exercise
Bruce Spiegelman, Harvard Medical School and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, USA

Novel mechanisms by which fat cells regulate systemic insulin sensitivity and diabetes 
Barbara Kahn, Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, USA

Obesity, insulin resistance, and the pathway to type 2 diabetes
Richard Bergman, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, USA

Selected talk 

Effects of serotonin on skeletal muscle growth
Suchismita Chandran, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA

10:30 - 11:00

Coffee

11:00 - 12:00

Session 2. Metabolism and mechanism. Chair: Christopher Newgard

Regulation of nutrient metabolism by nuclear receptor/FGF signaling pathways
David Mangelsdorf, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, USA

Finding mechanism from metabolic signatures of disease
Christopher Newgard, Duke University Medical Center, USA

12:00 - 13:00

Lunch

13:00 - 15:15

Session 3. Metabolism and the cancer cell. Chair: Michael Pollak

 Keynote

Beyond insulin: rethinking cellular metabolism
Craig Thompson, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, USA

Energy input and cancer risk at the cellular and whole organism level: modification by metformin
Michael Pollak, McGill University and Jewish General Hospital, Canada

Growth control and metabolism
David Sabatini, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

Selected talk

Amplification of phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase diverts glycolytic flux and contributes to oncogenesis
Jason W. Locasale, Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, USA 

Selected talk

MCT4 is an important determinant for the growth of highly glycolytic and aggressive malignancies
Kezi Unsal-Kacmaz, Pfizer Worldwide Research and Development, Pearl River NY, USA 

15:15 - 15:45

Coffee

15:45 - 17:00

Session 4. Linking diabetes and cancer. Chair: Lewis Cantley

PI 3-kinase and disease
Lewis Cantley, Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, USA

AMPK - a nutrient and energy sensor with roles in diabetes, cancer and viral infection
Grahame Hardie, University of Dundee, UK

Selected talk

Loss of RBF1 induces changes to central carbon metabolism and hypersensitizes animals to starvation.
Brandon Nicolay, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Harvard Medical School, USA

 17:00 - 17:15
Sponsored technical presentation

Real-time Analysis of substrate oxidation, glycolytic flux and mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation of cells in a microplate with the XF Analyzer
Min Wu, PhD, Director Biology, Seahorse Bioscience

17:15 - 19:00

Posters with drinks

19:00
Keynote

Surviving starvation: essential role of the ghrelin-growth hormone axis
Joseph L. Goldstein, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, USA

Conference dinner

8:30 - 11:15

Session 5. Epigenetics, metabolism and aging. Chair: Leonard Guarente

Sirtuins, aging and metabolism
Leonard Guarente, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

Sirtuin activators as interventions for healthy aging
Rafael de Cabo, National Institutes on Aging, NIH, USA

Regulation of metabolism by sirtuins
Marcia Haigis, Harvard Medical School, USA

Up, down, and all around the epigenomic regulation of metabolism
Mitchell Lazar, University of Pennsylvania, USA

The histone deacetylase SIRT6, a critical modulator of metabolism and tumorigenesis
Raul Mostoslavsky, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, USA.

10:45 - 11:15

Coffee

11:15 - 12:30

Session 6. Dietary factors in metabolic diseases Chair: Gary Taubes

Does fructose play a role in metabolic disorders?
Luc Tappy, University of Lausanne, Switzerland 

Carbohydrate restriction uniquely benefits metabolic syndrome and saturated fat metabolism
Jeff Volek, University of Connecticut, USA

TBA
Eric Westman, Duke University Medical Center, USA

12:30 - 13:30

Lunch

13:30 - 15:00

Energy balance, metabolism and cancer: mechanistic insights from transdisciplinary studies
Stephen Hursting, University of Texas and MD Anderson Cancer Center, USA 

Excess body weight, diabetes and cancer: epidemiologic evidence implicating hormonal and metabolic mechanisms
Rudolf Kaaks, German Cancer Research Center, Germany

A transdisciplinary approach to obesity and cancer: From cells to society.
Linda Nebeling, National Cancer Institute, USA

Reconsidering the Policy Options to Combat Obesity
Christine Ferguson, The George Washington University, USA

Coffee

15:15 - 16:30

Panel discussion:

‘What is the obesity-cancer connection? And what can we do about it?’
Sponsored by Cancer & Metabolism, Editors-in-Chief: Chi Van Dang & Michael Pollak

Speakersplus:
Greg Petsko, Brandeis University, USA – Chair;
Gary Taubes, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Independent Investigator in Health Policy Research at the U.C. Berkeley School of Public Health

Richard Bergman, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, USA

Rafael de Cabo, National Institute on Aging, NIH, USA

Lewis Cantley, Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, USA

Jeffrey Friedman, The Rockefeller University, USA

Joseph L. Goldstein, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, USA

Leonard Guarente, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

Marcia Haigis, Harvard Medical School, USA

Grahame Hardie, University of Dundee, UK

Stephen Hursting, University of Texas and MD Anderson Cancer Center, USA

Rudolf Kaaks, German Cancer Research Center, Germany

Barbara Kahn, Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, USA

Mitchell Lazar, University of Pennsylvania, USA

David Mangelsdorf, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, USA

Christopher Newgard, Duke University Medical Center, USA

Gregory Petsko, Brandeis University, USA

Michael Pollak, McGill University and Jewish General Hospital, Canada

David Sabatini, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

Bruce Spiegelman, Harvard Medical School and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, USA

Gary Taubes, Independent Investigator, University of California Berkeley, USA

Craig Thompson, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, USA