In order to develop a complete understanding of a biological system, information must cover multiple dimensions. Over the last ten years, we have witnessed decisive advances in bioinformatics, genome sequencing, and high-throughput technologies, that have highlighted the need for approaching biological systems as a whole. Metabolic diseases, including type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, as well as cancer, involve complex genetic, molecular, and environmental interactions, and systems-based approaches have proven to be instrumental in tackling this complexity by integrating genomic, molecular, and physiological data.

This meeting will provide a unique opportunity to bring together experts in systems biology and metabolism to discuss how ‘Omics’ approaches can be exploited in an effort to understand the perturbations that take place in the pathogenesis of metabolic diseases. We will discuss novel approaches for studying metabolic alterations in a high-throughput scale and explore how epigenomics, non-coding RNAs, and environmental factors control metabolic pathways in disease settings.