Conference report: World Congress on insulin resistance, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, Los Angeles, 7–9 November 2013

Here I offer a few brief highlights from what was one of the most stimulating metabolism conferences I have attended in some time. Such was the range of topics, which testifies to the position insulin resistance has assumed in the pathogenesis of so many human diseases, that this report must be selective. The clinical disorders of greatest relevance from a public health perspective – that is, diabetes and cardiovascular disease – are now incorporated into the title of the conference. Other topics, such as the role of insulin resistance in cancer, lipid metabolism obesity and fatty liver disease, were also well represented over the course of the 3 days. Although some reminders of lessons from the past were included, the conference was perhaps notable above all for the plethora of new data on areas that connected molecular biology to clinical syndromes and to proven and novel therapeutic options. Discussion of the topics presented was both lively and of the highest scientific standard. As expected, more questions remain than were unequivocally answered in what was a state-of-the-art summary of this diverse and fascinating, and still largely enigmatic, topic.