The Committee on Molecular Metabolism and Nutrition - Activities

MMTP/CMMN Seminar Series – (See Below for Schedule)The MMTP/CMMN sponsors a seminar series that highlights on-going research being conducted by selected internal faculty, postdoctorates and graduate students in the field of molecular metabolism, especially in the area of diabetes/obesity.  Additionally, this seminar series invites leading researchers in various areas of metabolic research to the University of Chicago each year.  Students and postdoctorates select a list of 10 potential speakers over the summer, and most are invited throughout the year.  Additional speakers are nominated by CMMN faculty.  In 2009-2010, the external seminar speakers included Dale Abel (University of Utah), Derek LeRoith (Mount Sinai School of Medicine), Jeffrey Pessin (Albert Einstein School of Medicine), Rudy Leibel (Columbia University), Steven Kahn (University of Washington), Chuck Burant (University of Michigan), Nancy Thornberry (Merck & Co., Inc.), Melanie Cobb (University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center), Steven Shoelson (Josiln Diabetes Center/Harvard Medical School), Will Cefalu (Louisiana State Univeristy), Vincent Poitout (University of Montreal), to name a few.  All MMTP/CMMN students and postdoctoral fellows are invited to have lunch alone with the speaker, where they can discuss not only insight into the speaker’s research specialization, but also larger issues of building/running a laboratory, balancing professional and personal lives, networking, etc. 

Additionally, the CMMN always seeks to co-sponsor activities with speakers brought in by other programs, so as to further enrich the training of MMTP students and postdoctorates.  Such speakers are often world-renowned researchers whose work is relevant to aspects of metabolism and/or metabolic disorders, and in the recent past have included the likes of Ron Evans, Dan Porte Jnr., Jeff Friedman, Dan Klionsky, to name a few.  All MMTP trainees are invited to a luncheon with these speakers when co-sponsored by the CMMN.

Lydia J. Roberts Lecture Series – Each year, CMMN in conjunction with the Chicago Nutrition Associations (CNA) hosts an annual lecture in honor of Lydia J. Roberts, a pioneer in nutritional research at the University of Chicago.  The seminar is held at a downtown location and open to academic researchers, clinicians, and industry scientists in the greater Chicago area, as well as the general public.  Following the talk, there is a reception and private dinner attended by CMMN faculty and students, the invited speaker and representatives from CNA. The following day the speaker has a series of meetings with MMTP faculty and good block of the time (≥2h) is spent with an exclusive interactive meeting of the speaker, the CMMN students and MMTP postdoctoral trainees. Speakers in the past 5 years were Drs. Stephen O’Rahilly, Chris Newgard, Barbara Corkey, Jeff Gordon, C. Ronald Kahn and most recently Steven Kahn. The Lydia J. Roberts is usually a popular and very well attended event with last year’s lecture having an audience of ~200.

University of Chicago Diabetes Research Training Center Annual “Diabetes Day” – Each spring, the DRTC at the University of Chicago hosts a forum for the presentation of diabetes related research on-going in the greater Chicago area.  There are four invited seminar speakers, followed by a poster session that is heavily represented by CMMN students and MMTP postdoctoral trainees. The annual Steiner Award is also presented at Diabetes Day to the keynote lecturer of the four invited speakers for their outstanding contribution to diabetes research. Past recipients of this award have been – Drs. Andrew Hattersly, Dan Drucker, George Eisenbarth, Roger Cone and Susumu Seino. Faculty, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students from the University of Chicago, Northwestern, University of Illinois at Chicago, Rush Medical Center, the University of Wisconsin and Washington University in St. Louis have participated. The event is very well attended. "Diabetes Day" Website

Max Miller “Sugar Club” Lecture – The Central Society for Clinical Research hosts an annual seminar and dinner as part of their annual meeting in Chicago that is also heavily attended by CMMN students, MMTP posdoctorates and faculty.  Speakers in recent years have been Drs. Luciano Rossetti, Michael Brownlee, David Kelley, Michael Schwartz, Robert Sherwin, Louis Philipson, and Donald Steiner.

The Midwest Islet Club (MIC) – is an annual 2-day long regional meeting dedicated to diabetes/obesity research with a focus on pancreatic islet biology. It rotates between six hosting centers in the Midwest – the University of Chicago, University of Michigan, University of Pittsburgh, University of Wisconsin, Vanderbilt University and Washington University St. Louis, but is attended by many islet researchers in the region from numerous academic and industry scientific institutions.  The meeting is driven by oral and poster presentations exclusively from students and postdoctoral fellows. No faculty present, but are present in the audience to ask constructively critical questions and promote discussion. Many CMMN students and MMTP postdoctoral fellows conducting islet research attend and present their research at this MIC meeting. The MIC meeting provides a highly collaborative atmosphere where the students and fellows get excellent feedback which, in turn, moves their research projects forward. The annual Paul Lacy Medal Lecture is given at the meeting which is a keynote lecture from a seasoned veteran islet researcher who can pass on their wisdom and experience to the trainees attending. Past recipients of this award include Donald Steiner, Alan Permutt and Barbara Corkey. The event is very well attended by 150-200 islet researchers each year and sponsored, in part, by DRTCs of some the centers.

A Signal Transduction Symposium – Sponsored by Northwestern University in Chicago is held annually on the downtown campus and features talks by leading researchers in all aspects of cellular signaling along with a poster session highlighting research on-going across the Chicagoland area. A major contingent of University of Chicago MMTP students, postdoctorates and faculty attend this one day meeting each year and several University programs, including the CMMN, help sponsor the program.

A Stem Cell Symposium – is held every year at the University of Chicago. This is a relatively new symposium series that features major contributes to the broad field of stem cell biology. Several MMTP trainees research involves investigating mechanisms of cell differentiation (e.g. adipocyte, hepatocytes and pancreatic ß-cell) and they are encouraged to attend this meeting to enrich their education/training.

Schedule Subject to Change