2017 Keystone Symposia on Gastrointestinal Control of Metabolism

The twin epidemics of obesity and diabetes pose difficult challenges to the health of growing populations around the globe. A wide array of recent data link the gastrointestinal tract to the etiology of these diseases. Moreover, some of the most innovative approaches to treat obesity, diabetes and related metabolic disorders involve direct manipulation of the GI tract or manipulation of the signals that come from the GI tract. To this end, an important goal of this meeting will be to highlight a wide range of methodologies that can be brought to understand GI function as it relates to obesity and diabetes. One of the primary factors slowing research on this topic is that investigators with interest in GI function and metabolic disease come from a wide range of disciplines that are not generally represented at scientific meetings. A key goal of this meeting is to bring together leading investigators from around the globe. Putting investigators who have been revealing function of the GI tract together with those sophisticated in metabolism – as well as encouraging early-career investigators to delve into this field – will be crucial to accelerate current work looking for novel therapeutic strategies. An important advance in our understanding of the GI tract is the appreciation of it as a major endocrine organ. A key component of the action of those GI hormones is their interaction with both the peripheral and central nervous system. Consequently, this meeting will be held jointly with a meeting that focuses on the “Neuronal Control of Appetite, Metabolism and Weight.” This is an ideal opportunity to bring together those who study how the GI tract generates these signals with those who study the neural systems that are targets for these signals.