SUMMARY Since its inception in 1985, the goals of the Kern Lipid Conference have been to promote metabolic science and increase understanding of metabolic pathobiology and cardiovascular disease. The conference strives to provide an inclusive, open forum for established and young emerging scientists from academia and industry. The 2024 Kern Lipid Conference will be co-chaired by Drs. Jonathan R. Brestoff, Nada A. Abumrad, and Gregory Steinberg and will have the theme “Lipids and Mitochondria in Cardiometabolic Diseases.” It will be held August 12- 14, 2024 at the Viceroy Hotel in Snowmass, Colorado. The primary goals of the 2024 conference are (1) to provide a dynamic interactive environment that leads to novel insights into disease mechanisms involving lipid metabolism and mitochondrial function and (2) to engage and inspire young scientists from diverse backgrounds to develop their careers studying lipid biology, mitochondria metabolism, and cardiometabolic disease pathogenesis. We will examine multiple organ systems including the cardiovascular system, heart, liver, brain, and adipose tissue while delving into metabolic diseases including obesity, diabetes, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and atherosclerosis, and other associated conditions such as cancer and neurodegeneration. The program will feature 5 sessions on exciting new areas of research: (1) Lipids and Mitochondrial Metabolism in the Brain, (2) Immune cells and Lipids in Cardiometabolic Diseases, (3) Mitochondria Transfer in Cardiometabolic Diseases, (4) Lipids and Mitochondrial Metabolism in the Regulation of Cardiometabolic Disease Pathogenesis, and (5) Lipids in Cancer. There will be 33 talks over a 3-day period (10 from early career scientists), an evening poster session, and career development sessions for early career scientists. Breaks, lunches, a closing dinner, and a closing reception on the premises promote interactions between participants. Idea exchange is maximized by allocating ample time for questions and discussion after oral presentations. The Kern Conference has traditionally attracted many early career scientists (~40% of the participants) and established scholars in their fields as well as creative scientists from industry. Participation of young scientists is strongly promoted with oral presentation opportunities, the poster session, inviting them to serve as session chairs, and awarding 3 prestigious early-career awards that will advance their career development: the Roger Davis Investigator Award for Transitional Faculty, the David L Williams Lecture and Scholarship Award, and the Franz Simon Poster Award. The setting and meeting format will facilitate interaction and discussion among attendees, making it likely that novel insights into disease mechanisms and therapeutic approaches for cardiometabolic diseases and associated comorbidities will emerge from the 2024 Conference. This R13 application is critical to the success of the 2024 Kern Conference because ...