Grant: Planning and Dissemination Grant - Institute Community Support

The 62nd International Conference of the Bioscience of Lipids (ICBL) will be held in-person at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) from September 4-7th, 2022. The ICBL holds high-quality annual meetings largely in venues throughout Europe. In 2012, Dr. Denis Vance (U of Alberta) organized the first Canadian ICBL meeting and it was deemed a great success, with attendees coming from across Canada, the USA, and internationally. The ICBL is excited to organize this conference in Montréal for the first time in its history. Based on historical attendance from prior (pre-COVID) in-person ICBL meetings, we expect 250-300 participants to attend with representation from across Canada and internationally. The ICBL is a conference designed for scientists and trainees with common interests in lipid research. It is a prominent international forum for the exchange of ideas and presentation of novel developments related to the bioscience of lipids. This meeting attracts investigators, undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, staff, and other trainees from universities, research hospitals, government agencies as well as private companies from all around the world working in the fields of biochemistry, molecular and cell biology, biomedical research, nutrition, and technology. A key mandate of the ICBL is to support trainee career development. Through a diverse panel of speakers, trainees will have the opportunity to present their work (oral and poster), meet with renowned scientists, experience cultural exchanges with international attendees, and develop their professional network. Each of the 7 themed symposia includes 2 trainee talks selected from conference abstracts, providing an opportunity to win awards. Finally, the meeting will have two professional development sessions where trainees will work on important professional skills and knowledge dissemination. We are requesting funds from CIHR/INMD to help support trainee career development at ICBL 2022.