She studied medicine at the University of Prishtina in Kosovo and applied for the Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship to pursue her MD-PhD. ‘I always wanted to combine research and medicine’ says Rina Mehmeti.

This is how she came to the Institute of Tissue Medicine and Pathology at the University of Bern, where she uses cutting-edge molecular biology and digital pathology techniques to study a new target in colorectal cancer for prevention of new lesions.

Two years ago, she joined the Talent Kick program, which brings together master and doctoral students ‘with a passion for innovation and entrepreneurship’ from all over Switzerland. Mehmeti quickly found three like-minded peers, with whom she co-founded Pathy, a platform for virtual histopathology staining.

Currently, pathologists rely on chemically stained tissue sections for diagnosis. ‘The staining process is time-consuming and expensive,’ points out Mehmeti. ‘We envision an AI-based solution to support pathology labs by virtually staining scanned tissue slides based on specific morphology patterns.’

She is very grateful to her MD-PhD co-supervisors Inti Zlobec and Mario Tschan, and to the dynamic Swiss startup ecosystem for the invaluable opportunities to grow. ‘I owe a lot to my parents.’ Mehmeti adds. ‘As a kid, my father challenged me with math problems fostering in me the love for science. And my mother encourages me to believe that with determination and a positive outlook, everything in life can be accomplished.’