The European doctoral network Mac4Me (Macrophage Targets for Metastatic Treatment) launched with a virtual meeting on 12 February 2025. Simultaneously, it also launched its digital and social media presence through this website and channels on LinkedIn and BlueSky.

Mac4Me is a 48-month project that addresses both technical and social challenges in cancer metastasis, focusing on three tumour types that show poor response to current immunotherapies: neuroblastoma, breast, and prostate cancer. These reflect the cancer development across a person’s lifetime and share metastatic disease spreading to the brain, bone, and liver. 

Working alongside researchers and patients, the network will train 18 Doctoral Candidates to study the tumour microenvironment at metastatic sites, with a particular focus on the macrophage immune cell population. It will combine organ-on-chip technology with microfluidic systems to investigate early cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions during tumour invasion. Mac4Me will move beyond traditional “thinking in boxes” approaches by integrating bioinformatics and Artificial Intelligence solutions with real-world clinical data. The project will maintain a focus on patient experiences and translate scientific advances into meaningful outcomes. 

Mac4Me is a Horizon Europe MSCA (Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions) Doctoral Network. The project is led by a core consortium of 14 partners: Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam (coordinator); the Delft University of Technology; the Erasmus University Rotterdam; GeneVia Technologies; the Oslo University Hospital; PeptimatrixTM; React4Life; the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland; the Science, Communication and Society Studies Centre at Universitat Pompeu Fabra; the Technical University Dresden; the University of Heidelberg; the University of Helsinki; the University of Nottingham; and the University of Bern. An additional 11 associated partners will contribute to the project. These entities represent an international network of universities, companies, patient associations, scientific associations, and a foundation from European countries (Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, The Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, and United Kingdom) and beyond (Australia, USA). The partnership brings together experts from multiple disciplines, including basic science, biomedical engineering, translational research, social sciences, and computational biology.