Since the discovery of their signaling functions over 35 years ago, research efforts into sphingolipids have grown and now represent a community of labs and scientists from around the world. The goal of this site is to serve as a central hub for the sphingolipid community – providing space to present research, exchange ideas, and advertise career opportunities. We also want to use this site as a way to promote lipid research and increase our visibility in the wider scientific community, as well as to inspire researchers in other fields to think about lipids in their own studies. In this spirit, we encourage you to spread the word.
In light of the COVID pandemic, which led to the suspension of in-person conferences, it has become evident that PIs, postdocs, and graduate students were missing crucial opportunities to showcase their work on local, national, and international platforms. This reality prompted the conception of a virtual platform where new scientific achievements could be disseminated to a worldwide audience.
As we navigate through the post-COVID era, almost four years since its onset, we remain committed to maintaining webinars as a valuable alternative. These webinars serve as an enduring platform for the scientific community to communicate, ensuring that researchers at all levels can present their work. This virtual platform plays a pivotal role in democratizing access to knowledge, breaking down geographical barriers, and fostering a global exchange of ideas. By providing a consistent and accessible avenue for presentations, our webinars become a ground for knowledge dissemination, and the establishment of networks within the scientific community. This platform not only bridges the gaps created by the absence of traditional conferences but also amplifies the inclusivity and diversity of voices contributing to the advancement of scientific research. As we look ahead, the significance of this virtual stage cannot be overstated in shaping the future landscape of collaborative and boundary-pushing scientific endeavors.
The Special Issue on Sphingolipid Biology is now online!
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We are grateful to all authors that contributed to this special issue with their research work and critical literature reviews on diverse subjects related to Sphingolipid Biology.
First discovered in the 1870s, sphingolipids are a fundamental class of molecules and were considered for many years to be inert structural lipids embedded in membrane bilayers. In the last decades, our growing understanding of sphingolipid signaling combined with advances in analytical tools and methodologies has broadened the boundaries of the sphingolipid universe. The FEBS Letters special issue titled ‘Sphingolipid biology’ comprises 10 contributions that reflect some of this diversity in sphingolipid research to provide the reader with a fair, yet incomplete, idea of how diverse sphingolipids influence cell and organismal pathophysiology.
