Horizon Europe – MSCA Doctoral Networks
Research & Training
LipidBRIGHT will train a new generation of interdisciplinary scientists to tackle major chronic diseases by exploiting the diagnostic and therapeutic potential of lipids. By combining cutting-edge lipidomics technologies, lipid imaging, artificial intelligence, disease biology, and clinical translation, LipidBRIGHT will generate innovative insights into disease mechanisms and translate these into improved strategies for prevention, diagnosis, patient stratification, outcome prediction, and therapy.
The network focuses on four high-impact disease areas - cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, cancer, and chronic inflammatory diseases, with a specific focus on neuro-, thrombo- and airway inflammation - and integrates expertise across clinical, biomedical, technological and data-science disciplines to accelerate innovation across disease borders.
Interdisciplinary doctoral training programme
The LipidBRIGHT consortium will organize a multidisciplinary and intersectoral training programme for doctoral candidates, embedded in an established cooperation of academic and non-academic partners.
As part of their scientific and technological training, the recruited doctoral candidates will:
Identify lipid biomarkers in human biofluids and tissues using state-of-the-art lipidomics and spatial lipid imaging technologies, with the aim to improve disease diagnosis, outcome prediction, and patient stratification across cardiovascular, renal, oncological, and inflammatory diseases.
Apply advanced bioinformatics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence approaches to integrate lipidomics with other omics and clinical data, enabling robust disease modelling and the identification of key lipid signatures and therapeutic targets.
Investigate lipid-driven disease mechanisms using functional cellular assays, ex vivo models, and in vivo systems, to elucidate how dysregulated lipid metabolism contributes to inflammation, vascular dysfunction, cancer progression, and organ damage.
Develop and evaluate lipid-based therapeutic and preventive strategies, including resolution pharmacology, nutritional interventions, small-molecule screening, and lipid-based drug delivery systems, in close collaboration with clinical and industrial partners.
In parallel, LipidBRIGHT provides training in transferable skills, open science, research ethics, diversity, innovation and career development. Through secondments and network-wide activities, doctoral candidates gain structured exposure to academic and non-academic environments, supporting excellent career perspectives in academia, industry and translational medicine.