Exposure to interdisciplinary approaches through the NIIHD Wellcome Trust PhD Programme played a key role in inspiring us to launch a startup in this field. We are also grateful to our mentor, Professor Alexander Ecker, Professor of Data Science at the University of Göttingen, for his guidance that continues to shape our journey.
Hanna Roetschke
12 February 2025
King's PhD student awarded AI Founder Fellowship
The AI-driven startup decyte is developing a technology with the aim to enable the early diagnosis of neuro-immune conditions.
Hanna Roetschke, a PhD student at King’s College London and The Francis Crick Institute, along with Julia Stachowiak, a medical student at the University of Göttingen, have been awarded the AI Founder Fellowship from MISSION KI.
MISSION KI, a German national initiative for artificial intelligence and data economy, is a project of acatech – National Academy of Science and Engineering, funded by the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport Affairs (BMDV). The AI Founder Fellowship provides funding and mentorship to doctoral students to support them with their startup ideas alongside their studies for a period of nine months.
Among the six teams selected for the fellowship, Hanna and Julia’s startup, decyte, secured approximately €70,000 in funding through a competitive application process. This support will help them advance their AI-based technology for early disease detection, with a focus on disorders affecting the nervous and immune system.
A vision for AI-based healthcare
Decyte was born from a shared vision: to bridge the gap between clinical expertise and data science. With Julia’s medical background and Hanna’s expertise in computational biology and machine learning, they aim to use AI to improve how the vast amounts of medical data generated in hospitals and research facilities are utilised for early detection of diseases affecting the nervous and immune systems.
On 28 January, Germany’s Federal Minister Dr Volker Wissing officially awarded the fellowship in Berlin. The fellowship will provide Hanna and Julia with support with business development, tailored coaching, and funding for computational infrastructure and data acquisition, among others.
“I met Julia through a research collaboration. We stayed in touch after the collaboration ended and eventually started talking about the idea of founding a startup together,” says Hanna, who is currently in her third year of the Neuro-Immune Interactions in Health & Disease (NIIHD) Wellcome Trust PhD Programme, led by Professor Leonie Taams and Dr Franziska Denk.
Julia and Hanna are currently exploring key clinical partnerships to obtain real-world medical data to train their AI models. Looking ahead, they plan to develop their predictive diagnostic tool to be capable of detecting diseases at an early stage. Their technology will use deep learning to analyse complex neuro-immune interactions, identifying unique “fingerprints” of disease before symptoms appear.
This technology would empower doctors to initiate early treatments, improving patient outcomes while streamlining hospital resource management. With patient data integration underway, Hanna and Julia are optimistic about the next phase of their journey.
We spent a couple of months developing different startup ideas and talking to clinicians to also understand their needs. During that process we realised the massive potential of using medical data to gain insights that are not possible with the existing clinical practice. I believe that with decyte we will directly address this potential and make a real difference in clinics, and the AI Founder Fellowship is a fantastic first step in that direction.
Julia Stachowiak
With decyte gaining momentum, Hanna and Julia are set to apply for further funding opportunities to advance their AI technology - bringing them one step closer to transforming early disease detection.
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PhD Student