The ARPA-H Lymphatic Imaging, Genomics, and Phenotyping Technologies (LIGHT) program aims to illuminate the unseen aspects of the lymphatic system through novel diagnostic approaches, and significantly improve patient care and outcomes by gaining a deeper understanding of its critical role in health. 

Funding for awardees varies in amount and is contingent upon the recipient meeting aggressive milestones specific to their project.

The LIGHT performers are:

  • 3DT Holdings, LLC, in San Diego aims to develop a first-in-class interventional device to measure lymphatic flow and obstruction in real time, so clinicians can detect thoracic duct disease and related conditions, such as heart failure, earlier and more accurately, helping prevent years of misdiagnosis and serious complications. 
  • Columbia University in New York City will use advanced cell-based and cell-free DNA panels to precisely diagnose and classify pediatric lymphatic anomalies, giving children and their families faster, clearer answers and more targeted, personalized care instead of years of uncertainty and trial-and-error treatment. 
  • Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City aims to create the first-ever “GeneLoad” score to detect lymphatic dysfunction and predict an individual’s risk of developing lymphedema, including in patients with autoimmune disease, so high-risk patients can be identified and treated proactively before irreversible swelling and disability occur. 
  • Stanford University in Calif. intends to transform magnetic resonance lymphangiography into a safer, faster, and more widely accessible imaging tool by reducing invasiveness, shortening scan times, improving resolution, and advancing contrast agents. This will allow more patients to receive comfortable, high-quality scans closer to home and get an earlier, more accurate diagnosis. 
  • University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, will build an innovative ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging system that can be used even in rural and resource-limited clinics to generate super-resolution, 3D views of lymphatic vessels and function, so patients in underserved areas can access advanced imaging without traveling long distances to specialized centers. 
  • University of Arizona in Tucson seeks to develop phase change ultrasound lymphography with novel microbubble-based contrast agents optimized for lymphatic imaging, enabling rapid, point-of-care assessment of lymphatic function and detailed mapping of lymphatic networks at the bedside, so providers can make faster, more informed treatment decisions during a single visit. 
  • University of California, Irvine, will optimize dual-energy contrast-enhanced CT lymphangiography as a practical, non-invasive, high-resolution method for quantifying lymphatic flow and detecting tissue-specific dysfunction, such as thoracic duct obstruction, making advanced lymphatic diagnosis feasible in community hospitals as well as specialty centers. 
  • University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia aims to deploy AI-driven multi-omics to discover biomarkers and targeted imaging agents for liver and gut lymphatics, addressing the lack of FDA-approved lymphatic-specific contrast agents and allowing earlier more precise detection of lymphatic involvement in liver and gastrointestinal disease to help prevent organ damage and improve long-term outcomes. 
  • University of South Florida in Tampa intends to build an AI-powered predictive tool—a “clinical copilot” for lymphatic disease—to help providers diagnose, monitor, and treat lymphatic-related conditions with greater accuracy and personalization, so patients can benefit from expert-level decision support even when their clinician is not a lymphatic specialist. 
  • Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City will develop a comprehensive diagnostic platform that integrates AI-enabled biomarker technologies, high-resolution photoacoustic imaging, and multimodal genetic-epigenetic predictors, giving clinicians the ability to detect lymphatic dysfunction much earlier in the disease process and opening a window for timely intervention before severe symptoms develop. 
  • William Marsh Rice University in Houston, Texas, seeks to create a non-invasive photoacoustic imaging system with advanced near-infrared molecular probes and highly sensitive biomarker measurements to dramatically improve diagnosis and monitoring of rare and complex lymphatic diseases, so patients who have long struggled to get a clear diagnosis can be identified and followed more accurately, reducing the risk of sudden, life-altering complications.