Autophagy is the major pathway that eukaryotic cells use to degrade and recycle cytoplasmic contents during development, tissue homeostasis, and environmental stress. In recent years, there has been an explosion of knowledge about the molecular mechanisms of autophagy and its roles in organelle turnover, cell death regulation, cancer cell biology, innate immunity, aging, and neurodegenerative disorders. This meeting will focus on advances made in these areas, with the goal of understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms by which autophagy and the deregulation of autophagy contributes to health and disease. In addition, the meeting will focus on how the autophagy pathway can be exploited as a therapeutic target in cancer, infectious diseases, aging and neurodegeneration.