Two-dimensional (2D) topological materials provide promising platforms for quantum applications thanks to their edge states that enable dissipationless transport for circuit interconnects or topological quantum computation when in contact with a superconductor. Despite a major expansion in the portfolio of 2D materials, intrinsic 2D topological insulators remain elusive. To overcome this limitation and leverage the recent creation of extensive databases of 2D structures, this program aims at identifying pathways to obtain and, most importantly, control topology in 2D materials by inducing an emergent topological phase in van der Waals heterostructures that combine trivial monolayers with a broken-gap band alignment. The focus will be on systems comprising a 2D semiconductor with large spin-orbit coupling (SOC) and a magnetic layer, where magnetic proximity breaks time reversal symmetry and proximity-induced SOC opens a topological gap with non-zero Chern number. Promising compounds will be screened using first-principles density-functional-theory simulations and deploying high-throughput workflows. The quality of the predictions will be validated against many-body electron-electron and electron-phonon effects. We plan to identify strategies to manipulate the band offset and the emergent topology through electric and magnetic fields with implications for future devices, including the possibility to selectively invert bands only in a single valley for valleytronic applications.