Energy homeostasis, i.e. the regulation of food intake and energy expenditure is essential for animal survival. The failure in regulating these important physiological processes has major implications on human health, giving rise to disorders such as obesity and anorexia. A variety of research approaches has been used to identify molecular and neural networks underlying food intake and metabolic homeostasis. These approaches include human genetics to reveal the heritable basis of obesity, optogenetics and physiology in rodents to identify neural circuits that regulate eating behaviours and genetic screens in invertebrate model organism to investigate
neuromodulatory pathways for metabolism and food intake. The main goal of this EMBO Workshop is to bring together expertise from these different disciplines to discuss recent developments and landmark discoveries. We aim to foster a platform that will stimulate discussions between researchers and allow interdisciplinary exchange of ideas and research tools. The session topics will cover neural control of weight homeostasis, nutrient sensing by the nervous system and molecular pathways for metabolic control and eating behaviour. We will give special attention to young scientists, such as students, postdocs and junior group leaders by creating a stimulating scientific atmosphere with talks, discussions, poster sessions and social events.