The Gordon Research Conference on Molecular and Cellular Biology of Lipids brings together outstanding scientists in the field to present and discuss their research on lipid metabolism, emphasizing the roles of lipids in health and disease at the molecular, cellular, and organismal levels. The 2013 meeting will be held from July 21-26 at the Waterville Valley Resort in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire. First organized in 1955, the Molecular and Cellular Biology of Lipids conference is among the oldest continuous Gordon Conference meetings. The 2013 meeting will include nine lecture sessions and four afternoon poster sessions that cover a broad range of topics, including lipid signals that regulate cell metabolism, new roles for lipases and acyltransferases in obesity, atherosclerosis and inflammation, membrane biogenesis and turnover, cellular lipid metabolism, fatty acid uptake and metabolism, transcriptional control of lipids, novel roles for phosphatidic acid, and genetic regulation of lipid enzymes by miRNAs. Over 35 speakers will highlight lipid biochemistry and metabolism in a variety of organisms, including yeast, bacterial pathogens, viruses, and mammals. Several speakers will be chosen based on submitted abstracts. The invited speakers will represent both well-established senior investigators and energetic junior investigators who are pioneering new approaches, thereby generating an atmosphere guaranteed to stimulate lively discussions. The biochemists, structural biologists, cell biologists, physiologists, nutrition scientists, and geneticists who attend this conference will derive synergistic benefit from the high quality of the speakers, the diverse experimental expertise of the participants, the abundant opportunities for interactions, and the resplendent natural surroundings of the White Mountain National Forest. Because lipid metabolism is fundamental to normal growth and development, to cellular responses to external stimuli, and to disorders related to obesity, atherosclerosis, aging, inflammation, and the metabolic syndrome, basic research in this field has a far ranging impact with profound consequences for many other fields.