The early detection, prevention and reversal of chronic diseases remain a medical challenge. Lifestyle-associated metabolic disorders, such as obesity, dyslipidaemia and diabetes mellitus, are key drivers of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and microvascular complications. These conditions are primed already during the intrauterine period and early childhood. At the cellular level, the disease trajectories are driven by critical 'switch points', such as altered epigenetic gene expression and post-translational protein modification, which impair cellular metabolism, inter-organ communication, and repair mechanisms. In the “Early Medical Training in Lifestyle-Associated Chronic Vasculo-Metabolic Diseases” (EMILIA) doctoral programme, the aim is to prepare future clinician scientists to study the mechanisms of such switch points, and to identify novel actionable targets for lifestyle-induced diseases.