President’s word

The President’s word 2026

Dear colleagues, dear members and supporters of GERLI,

I wish you a very happy new year, an excellent health, and lots of successes with your projects !
GERLI was very active in 2025, and 2026 will be extremely dynamic as well!

The congress held last november in Strasbourg brought together 137 participants around the topic ‘Lipids in Cell Structures and Metabolism’, divided into 8 plenary sessions led by 35 speakers, and lively poster sessions energized by 40 doctoral students! GERLI strives to give young researchers a prominent place by facilitating access to the congresses (registration fees and travel grants), and by recognizing the outstanding merit of their work with poster and oral presentation prizes, and annual thesis prizes. In 2025, the GERLI-SFN prize was awarded to Anouk Charlot and the GERLI prize to Pierre-Louis Batrow. The success of this international lipid meeting in Strasbourg will be highlighted in a special issue of BIOCHIMIE (Elsevier). I would particularly like to thank Malika Hassini and Claude Forest at BIOCHIMIE as well as Bryan Adriaanse at Elsevier for their invaluable support of GERLI. I would like to extend my warmest thanks to our partners and recent supporters SCIEX, HEART, SEVE, Cancéropôle Grand Est, Eurométropole, ITI Neurostra, France 2030, and of course all of you !
GERLI stands as a key player in a network of scientific societies, including the French Nutrition Society (SFN), the French Society for the Study of Lipids (SFEL), the European Federation of Lipid societies (EFL) and the French Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (SFBBM), which together create a wonderful space for the dissemination of lipid sciences !

GERLI’s international reach enabled it to partner with the International Conference for the Bioscience of Lipids (ICBL) in 2026 to present a joint congress in Bordeaux next september: ICBL-GERLI “Lipids in All States”. The efficient work of the Bordeaux organizing committee led by Erick Dufourc and the GERLI board has already resulted in collecting the first registrations ! In 2026, GERLI is also joining the European Workshop of Lipid Mediators (EWLM) with Cécile Gladine and Thierry Durand leading a scientific session of the next meeting in july in Paris. GERLI remains true to its primary mission: the promotion and dissemination of lipid research. This is achieved by providing visibility and support to several events, the Lipid Droplets & Oleosomes Conference (LDO, 4th edition, Montpellier, June 2026), the Toulouse School of Lipids (February 2026), and, of course, the very active Lipidomystes network (16th network meeting, Montpellier, march 30 & april 1, 2026) that benefit everyone, especially your doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows.

The strength and longevity of GERLI lie in its dynamic scientific council, which regularly welcomes new energies involved in GERLI’s actions, bringing together skills from physics to biomedicine, including all aspects of biochemistry and biology. The scientific openness offered by GERLI is a major strength in encouraging membership and attracting doctoral and postdoctoral researchers to our society. To promote lipid science extensively, our non-profit scientific society needs your support through donations, sponsorships, and of course your membership fees. I am counting on you to contribute and encourage others to do the same. GERLI offers memberships at rates that have remained stable for several years. Please note that membership grants access to preferential registration rates for GERLI, SFEL, and EFL conferences. I encourage you to join and support GERLI now and contribute to the dissemination, promotion, and recognition of your lipid research. The excellent work of our webmaster, Frédéric Carrière, on the GERLI website will allow you to choose your membership for 2026, with the added benefit of easy online payment.

GERLI welcomes you in a spirit conducive to collegial and friendly exchanges!

With my best regards,

Hubert Schaller
President of GERLI