Upcoming Conferences

Nobel Conference 61 (2025): Sugar: Bringing Sweetness to Light

October 7-8

Sugar. In the form of glucose, it鈥檚 the most important source of energy for the human body鈥nd also a substance that can induce cravings as robust as those for cocaine. In the form of cane, beets, and corn, it鈥檚 an important crop and commodity鈥nd was a driving force in European colonization and the Atlantic slave trade. It鈥檚 a seemingly-irreplaceable element in celebrations, festivals, and special treats鈥nd a source of 鈥渆mpty calories鈥 in many prepared and processed foods. Sugar in the form of glucose plays a contributing role in adverse health conditions such as diabetes, fatty liver disease, high blood pressure and cancer鈥nd in the form of glycans鈥揷omplex carbohydrates that cloak the cells of our bodies鈥搃t shows promise for playing crucial roles in the treatment of diseases including cancer. 

Nobel Conference 61 will seek to shed light on this complicated carbohydrate, whose roles in human life are anything but simple. 

Confirmed 2025 Speakers

University of Bordeaux, Addiction researcher at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) 
Professor of Chemistry, Stanford University, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 2022
Professor of History at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam and Senior Researcher at the International Institute of Social History Amsterdam, author of The World of Sugar: How the Sweet Stuff Transformed Our Politics, Health, and Environment over 2,000 Years
Professor of Humanities, University of Haiti, former Haitian ambassador to the United States
Founder-Owner of Sip; Pastry World Champion
 Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology, Harvard University, T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Distinguished McKnight University Professor of Applied Economics and Law, University of Minnesota

Nobel Conference 62 (2026): The Mighty Mississippi: Currents of Change

October 6-7, 2026