Seminars and events

at the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research and at cooperating institutes

Scott A. Summers

Talk by Prof. Scott Summers, Phd, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA

Destickifying Ceramides to Treat Cardiometabolic Disease
Overnutrition, inflammation, and genetic aberrations promote the accumulation of sphingolipids such as ceramides, which alter metabolic programs and induce apoptosis in a wide range of cell types.In humans, serum ceramides are biomarkers of diabetes and major adverse cardiac events, and clinics have started measuring circulating ceramides as markers of disease risk.In rodents, inhibiting ceramide biosynthesis ameliorates diabetes, steatohepatitis, kidney injury, and heart failure. The author will discuss the evolution of this pathway as a signal of lipid excess and the therapeutic potential of a new approach to inactivate ceramides and combat cardiometabolic pathologies. [more]
Zachary Knight

Talk by Prof. Zachary Knight, University of California, San Francisco, USA

Control of ingestion by the caudal brainstem
The passage of food through the alimentary canal generates a series of feedback signals that are sensed by the brain and used to control behavior. Many of these signals converge on the caudal brainstem, which contains the key neural circuits that drive meal termination.I will describe our work investigating the dynamics and function of these circuits during ingestion. A central theme is that these circuits integrate layers of signals from the mouth and gut, both during ingestion and over longer timescales through learning. [more]

Talk by Carlos Ribeiro, PhD, Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, Lisbon

The Metabolic Mosaic: Illuminating the Interplay of Diet, Microbiome, Brain and Metabolism
A balanced intake of nutrients is a key determinant of health, wellbeing, and aging. To maintain homeostasis, animals adapt their foraging strategies, physiology, and metabolism to meet immediate and future demands. We aim to understand how animals decide what to eat and how their metabolism aligns with physiological needs, focusing on the interplay between brain-body interactions, metabolic processes, and the microbiome, a key player in shaping these adaptations. Our research uses Drosophila melanogaster as a model to investigate nutritional decision-making at the interface of behavior, metabolism, microbiome, and physiology. By leveraging tools such as automated behavioral analyses, metabolomics, connectomics, neuronal activity imaging, and precise nutritional and microbial manipulations, we explore how internal states and environmental factors influence dietary choices and metabolic responses. This integrative approach allows us to reveal how internal states and environmental contexts shape dietary decisions. Ultimately, our goal is to build a unified framework for understanding the principles of nutrient regulation, offering insights into metabolic resilience and fitness across species. [more]
Wissenschaftliche Wasserfarbe-Skizzen auf weißen Hintergrund. Titel und Ort der Eventreihe auf violetten und beigen Streifen.

Biomedical Seminars Cologne "Where Heme Biosynthesis Meets Fate: Inflammation or Cell Death"

[more]
Wissenschaftliche Wasserfarbe-Skizzen auf weißen Hintergrund. Titel und Ort der Eventreihe auf violetten und beigen Streifen.

Biomedical Seminars Cologne "DNA G-quadruplexes in the human genome: detection, functions and therapeutic potential for cancer and aging"

[more]
Giuseppe D'Agostino, PhD

Talk by Giuseppe D'Agostino, PhD

Neuronal Circuits Controlling Energy Metabolism Beyond Appetite Regulation
  • Date: Nov 14, 2025
  • Time: 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM (Local Time Germany)
  • Speaker: Giuseppe D'Agostino, PhD
  • Giuseppe (Peppe) D'Agostino is a Group Leader at the University of Manchester, Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Gastroenterology, and he is a member of the Lydia Becker Institute of Immunology and Inflammation and the Geoffrey Jefferson Brain Research Centre. A pharmacologist by training, Peppe earned his PhD in Neuropharmacology from the University of Naples, Italy, and pursued further research training at Yale University (USA), the University of Cambridge, and the University of Aberdeen. In 2017, he was awarded a Medical Research Council fellowship to establish his independent research group. In 2019, his laboratory relocated to the University of Manchester In 2019, where in 2023 became Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor). His group focuses on neuronal circuits that control appetite and fuel metabolism under both homeostatic and pathological conditions, employing genetics, systems neuroscience, and integrative physiology approaches.
  • Location: MPI for Metabolism Research, Gleueler Strasse 50, 50931 Köln
  • Room: Seminar room 1
  • Host: Prof. Jens Brüning
  • Topic: Discussion and debate formats, lectures
  • Contact: klingenberg@sf.mpg.de
Brain circuits that sense energy do far more than drive appetite. This talk explores how hypothalamic and brainstem networks orchestrate whole-body metabolism, managing a critical trade-off between immune readiness and energy conservation. This highlights an emerging framework of how the brain dynamically matches whole-body physiology to its perceived energy status and prioritizes tissue maintenance under changing nutritional states. [more]
Wissenschaftliche Wasserfarbe-Skizzen auf weißen Hintergrund. Titel und Ort der Eventreihe auf violetten und beigen Streifen.

Biomedical Seminars Cologne "Organizing a compartment by redox - the mitochondrial intermembrane space"

[more]
Wissenschaftliche Wasserfarbe-Skizzen auf weißen Hintergrund. Titel und Ort der Eventreihe auf violetten und beigen Streifen.

Biomedical Seminars Cologne "Setting the Clock: How Intergenerational and Early Life Injury Shapes Lung Aging and Disease"

[more]
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