Published
What if doctors could finally see, understand, and repair one of our body’s most important but overlooked systems?
That is the drive behind two ARPA-H programs: LIGHT—Lymphatic Imaging, Genomics, and pHenotyping Technologies—and GLIDE—Groundbreaking Lymphatic Interventions and Drug Exploration. By making the lymphatic system easier to see and treat, these programs will open the door to earlier diagnoses, better therapies, and improved outcomes for patients with chronic, rare, and hard-to-treat diseases.
Giving voice to the lymphatic community
This is not just about scientific advancement. It is also about community. Patients, caregivers, and advocates are clear about why this work matters—and why their voices must shape what comes next.
ARPA-H recently welcomed Kathy Bates to highlight the urgent need for progress and the importance of listening to the lymphatic community. That same spirit guided two ARPA-H lymphatic community conversation webinars (LIGHT and GLIDE), which brought together patients, researchers, advocates, and visionaries building a new future for lymphatic health.
"As a surgeon, I was trained to fix what I could see — but I was never taught about the one system that connects everything. As a rare disease parent, I've lived the heartbreak of watching someone you love suffer while medicine has no answers. Now, as an ARPA-H Program Manager, I get to help change that story for millions of families. Together, LIGHT is making the lymphatic system visible through next-generation imaging, and GLIDE will help launch an entirely new field of lymphatic medicine. We're not just creating treatments — we're building a future where the invisible becomes visible, the once-untreatable becomes treatable, and families no longer have to hear 'there's nothing we can do.' This is what transformation looks like."
— Program Manager Kim Steele, M.D., Ph.D.
A key part are the LIGHT and GLIDE Discovery Duos teams, early-career investigators paired with patient or caregiver ambassadors, to bring lived experience directly into each program’s research and development process.
Our body's hidden highway
The lymphatic system helps regulate fluid balance, supports immune function, and plays a major role in organ health. But because it is difficult to see and measure, lymphatic dysfunction is often missed or misunderstood.
Patients with primary lymphatic disease can be misdiagnosed, leading to inappropriate treatments, prolonged hospital stays, disability, or worse. Lymphatic dysfunction is also linked to conditions including cancer, obesity, heart failure, inflammatory bowel disease, autoimmune disorders, and neurodegenerative diseases.
When invisible becomes urgent
Today’s tools are limited. Symptoms may appear only after disease has progressed, and physical exams do not provide enough insight into lymphatic function. Current imaging tools are expensive, difficult to access, and do not show enough detail.
Treatment is also limited. Many patients rely on lifelong symptom management, such as compression therapy. Surgical repair remains experimental, and there are currently no cures that directly address abnormal lymphatic structure and function.
Two programs, one emerging field
LIGHT and GLIDE are designed to work together. LIGHT focuses on diagnosis and understanding. GLIDE focuses on treatment and repair.
Together, they could help create a new field of lymphatic medicine—one with affordable, accessible tools to diagnose, monitor, and treat lymphatic dysfunction.
Through Discovery Duo Voice Sessions, and continued community engagement, ARPA-H is helping ensure that future lymphatic tools are not only scientifically ambitious, but also practical, accessible, and responsive to real patient needs.
Patients, caregivers, providers, and advocates can find out more information and sign-up with one or more Discovery Duo Voice Sessions:
Stay tuned for more developments from LIGHT, GLIDE, and ARPA-H programs working to transform what is possible in health.