Recent findings have identified roles for the immune system in what were previously considered to be prototypic metabolic diseases, and metabolic control has emerged as an important determinant of immune function. Giovanna Chimini, Lee Leserman, Diane Mathis and Philippe Naquet organized the EMBO Workshop on Immunology & Metabolism, which took place in January 2011 at the Centre d'Immunologie de Marseille-Luminy (CIML) in Marseille, France. The meeting brought together approximately 100 scientists to discuss interactions between metabolism and inflammation.