News
September 8, 2025
All-Russian conference LIPIDS 2025 opens in Petrozavodsk

Over a hundred scientists from around Russia and abroad have gathered at KarRC RAS to discuss research on vital molecules – lipids.
On September 8, Karelian Research Centre RAS in Petrozavodsk opened its doors to the All-Russian Conference with International Participation and Young Scientists School LIPIDS 2025, co-organized by the Institute of Biology KarRC RAS and Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry RAS.

The conference theme is research on vital molecules – lipids – hydrophobic or amphiphilic low molecular weight organic substances of which cell membranes of animals, plants and microorganisms are built. Lipids are involved in the organism’s defense responses, act as signaling molecules at the cellular level, and constitute an integral part of the organism’s information system.

- The conference topic is streamlined with our country’s technological development mission. Such discussions are essential for us to move forward and develop, to understand the vector of the movement and visualize the emerging ideas and solutions, - said KarRC RAS Director General, Corr. Academician Olga Bakhmet in her welcoming speech.


Presiding: Institute of Biology KarRC RAS Director Nikolai Ilmast, Senior Researcher of Lipid Chemistry Laboratory at RAS Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry Elena Vodovozova, KarRC RAS Director General, Corr. Academician Olga Bakhmet, Principal Researcher of Ecological Biochemistry Laboratory IB KarRC RAS, Academician Nina Nemova

Worldwide, lipid conferences are held regularly. E.g., in 2024 and 2025 they took place in Austria and Scotland. In Russia, this conference is the only one of the kind. It was held twice before – in 2018 and 2021, both times in Moscow. This year, the conference is for the time hosted by Karelia.

- Our institute has been long and successfully developing the lipid research line, focusing first of all on aquatic organisms. Last year, our Animal Ecological Biochemistry Science School celebrated its 65th anniversary. This science school is evolving due to youth recruitment. It is now two-thirds young scientists, who are the target audience for lectures, - explained RAS Academician, KarRC RAS Research Line Manager, Principal Researcher of Ecological Biochemistry Laboratory at the Institute of Biology KarRC RAS Nina Nemova.

According to the organizers, research results at this conference will be presented for such areas as structural and functional studies on the role of specific lipid classes in regulating bodily processes, lipids of biological membranes, molecular biology of lipid system proteins, lipidomics (general, specialized, medical, and food lipidomics), synthetic and analytical chemistry of lipids, new lipid-based pharmaceuticals, lipid-based drug delivery systems, and the role of lipids in the environmental adaptation of living systems. The results of these studies are important in fields such as biomedicine, biotechnology, nanotechnology, industrial biophysics and chemistry, etc.


LIPIDS 2025 conference audience

In total, over 125 scientists from parts of Russia, from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok, as well as from Belarus, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkey, representing a wide range of universities, will take part in the conference. Some speakers will deliver online, but the majority will present their work in person. An important part of the event is the school for young scientists, which will feature 7 lectures and 6 plenary talks. The organizers stress that such a conference may be held in Karelia again in the future.

Photos: Igor Georgievskii / KarRC RAS

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