Large partnerships between academia and industry are emerging as a possible solution to the problems surrounding stratified medicine. In this Perspectives article, the members of the RA-MAP Consortium reflect on the challenges and benefits of working in such a partnership.

Familial hypercholesterolaemia is a common inherited condition, but it is often diagnosed only in adulthood. Individuals with familial hypercholesterolaemia have chronic increased plasma levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, which can cause early-onset cardiovascular disease.

Triangulation of microbe–phenotype relationships is an effective method for reducing the noise inherent in microbiota studies and enabling identification of causal microbes of disease, which may be applicable to human microbiome studies.

A product of the soluble epoxide hydrolase enzyme, 19,20-dihydroxydocosapentaenoic acid (19,20-DHDP), is implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy; levels of 19,20-DHDP increase in the retinas of mice and humans with diabetes, and inhibition of its production can rescue vascular abnormalities in a mouse model of the disease.

The transcription factor Runx3 is identified as a central regulator of the development of tissue-resident memory CD8⁺ T cells, providing insights into the signals that promote T cell residency in non-lymphoid tissues and tumours.

The γδ T cell pool includes abundant IL-17-producing cells that protect mucosal surfaces, but the signals that control γδ T cell specification are unclear. Here the authors identify a role for the transcription factor HEB, and antagonistic activity of Id3, in the development of these cells.