Project Summary The 8th FASEB Summer Research Conference on Lipid Droplets, entitled “Lipid Droplet Biology in Health and Disease,” will focus on the rapidly developing field of lipid droplet biology. Lipid droplets are dynamic cellular organelles that play key roles in energy metabolism. Lipid droplet accumulation and dysfunction are hallmarks of metabolic diseases, including obesity, lipodystrophy, insulin resistance, diabetes, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and cardiovascular disease. Additionally, lipid droplets have been implicated in the pathogenesis of neurodegeneration and cancer and as organizing hubs for the innate immune response. The increasing prevalence of metabolic disorders worldwide heightens the urgency to encourage research into fundamental aspects of how lipid droplets form, grow, move, mature, and degrade; influence cell, tissue, and organismal physiology; and contribute to disease. Understanding these concepts is necessary designing appropriate new therapeutic strategies. The conference will be held June 26-July 1, 2022 in Asheville, NC. The format includes a keynote addresses by both Elina Ikonen and Barbara Kahn, six sessions of talks by invited speakers, 16 short talks by trainees and early career investigators selected from submitted abstracts, two poster sessions, a Career-Oriented Workshop on career design and balance, and a Meet the Experts session on Lipid Droplets in Health and Disease. The meeting format will encourage and facilitate interactions between trainees, early career investigators, and established investigators. The scientific sessions cover the full breadth of lipid droplet biology, from biophysical, biochemical, and cellular topics to physiology and disease. Talks from internationally renowned researchers will span basic to clinical research and describe diverse approaches (biophysics, genetics, biochemistry, cell biology, physiology) and models (mice, humans, cultured cells, flies, yeast). This meeting continues to represent the only major international meeting dedicated exclusively to lipid droplet biology and its relevance to human disease and remains a unique forum for researchers to exchange ideas and share breaking results in this dynamic and timely field. A central aim of this conference is training and encouraging the next generation of scientists. This application requests funding to support the participation of 16 graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and early career investigators, including women, underrepresented minorities, and persons with disabilities, who will be chosen from submitted abstracts judged as superior. The intimate conference format, the secluded conference site, and the many opportunities for informal interactions between participants, planned and unplanned, will provide young investigators opportunities to present their work, obtain feedback from leaders in the field, and receive career advice.