The launch of the Mac4Me project

The European doctoral network Mac4Me (Macrophage Targets for Metastatic Treatment) launched with a virtual meeting on February 12th, 2025. Simultaneously, it also launched its digital and social media presence through its 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 tumor 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 tumor 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 tumor 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 coordinated by Dr. Wytske van Weerden and Dr. Franziska Linke, Department of Urology at the Erasmus University Rotterdam. Prof. Dr. Martina Rauner, Scientific Director of the BoneLab Dresden at the Medical Clinic 3, is in charge of work packages 5 and 8, which are being carried out here at the Medical Faculty of TU Dresden with two international doctoral students. Further partners are the Delft University of Technology; the Erasmus University Rotterdam; GeneVia Technologies; the Oslo University Hospital; Peptimatrix^TM; React4Life; the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland; the Science, Communication and Society Studies Centre at Universitat Pompeu Fabra; 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.

The aim of the EU network is to support the best minds in Europe in the various phases of their scientific careers, in addition to providing scientific knowledge. Mac4Me promotes the innovative and structured training of young scientists for up to four years on their way to an independent career.

For more information, visit the website.

For media inquiries, please contact: mac4me@upf.edu.

Social Media:    BlueSky and LinkedIn.