On 27 May, the Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, hosted the 2nd Symposium of the Dioscuri Centre for Metabolic Diseases. The event focused on fundamental mechanisms underlying metabolic diseases, including lipid absorption and transport in the intestine, the impact of cellular stress on metabolism, and the use of advanced liver and pancreatic organoid models in research.

The speakers included Steven Farber (Johns Hopkins University, USA), Kimberly K. Buhman (Purdue University, USA), Dagmar Kratky (Medical University of Graz, Austria), Martin Klingenspor (Technical University of Munich, Germany), Harini Sampath (Rutgers University, USA), and Ludovic Vallier (Berlin Institute of Health at Charité, Germany).

The meeting also had an important organisational dimension for the further development of the Dioscuri Centre for Metabolic Diseases. The participating researchers will contribute to the newly established Scientific Advisory Board of the Dioscuri Centre, part of the Dioscuri Centres of Scientific Excellence programme run by the Max Planck Society and the National Science Centre, Poland.

The symposium provided an opportunity for knowledge exchange and discussion on current directions in metabolic disease research, including obesity and type 2 diabetes, which remain among the major challenges in contemporary medicine.