Why Metabolism?

Metabolism encompasses all reactions that generate and use energy. At the cellular and organismal levels metabolic flux and balance is required to move, to replicate, to repair damage, and to sustain life, and indeed disruptions to this delicate balance are a major contributor to disease and aging. Thus, in some sense metabolism is life; it is the molecular explanation of how we interact with the internal and external environment and operate as living organisms, and proper metabolism ensures robust function and health. The Sabri Ülker Center is committed to investigating the molecular underpinnings of metabolism, its interactions with nutrients, and its dysregulation in chronic metabolic diseases and during aging. All of this with the long-term goal of translating the findings into new therapeutic directions and strategies to prevent and treat metabolic diseases such as diabetes and prolong health span. We are thrilled to welcome you to the second Sabri Ülker Symposium on Metabolism and Life, the first of these meetings to be held at Harvard. This symposium brings together a spectacular array of global experts exploring various aspects of metabolism in health and disease states, and during the aging process.

Gökhan S. Hotamışlıgil, MD, PhD, Chair of the Symposium