After graduating from medical school in 2019, Melis began her residency in pathology. During her training, she developed a strong interest in artificial intelligence (AI) and its potential applications in pathology. Upon becoming a certified pathologist, she decided to pursue a career in computational pathology research.
In July 2024, she joined Hugo Horlings’ group as a PhD student, aiming to validate and guide AI solutions in pathology. She is working on the project LAICSIDE (2024-2028) that seeks to improve cancer diagnosis accuracy and efficiency by creating a cancer cell annotation atlas and eventually developing a virtual pathology assistant. This study will also provide new insights into the quantification and spatial organization of cell types, enhancing our current understanding of tumor behavior and the treatment of various cancers.