10 years of TALENTA – Julia Hetzel: Algorithms for medical progress

“I’ve found my place between research and application,” says Julia Hetzel. She is a medical engineer working on making innovative technologies, in particular new AI methods, usable for medical or biological applications. Instead of pursuing a traditional scientific career and earning a doctorate, she develops software for medical research that is intended to lead to improved diagnosis and treatment.

Hetzel works in the application areas of Digital Pathology and Spatial Biology, the latter of which deals with the relationships and functions of the smallest biological units in their spatial context. Here she develops software that uses image processing algorithms to automatically analyze microscopic images of cells. For the large amounts of data in digital pathology, classic algorithms as well as AI methods from the field of deep learning provide her with various options for image analysis. The information obtained in this way helps medical and biological experts to reach conclusions about tissue samples. Hetzel has been fascinated by medical image processing since her college studies; working in the Digital Health Systems department at Fraunhofer IIS offers her the perfect combination of a focus on applications on the one hand and proximity to research on the other.

What motivated you to apply for TALENTA?

I’d already had a good experience with the josephine® mentoring program at Fraunhofer IIS. There were many opportunities at the institute to move beyond purely scientific project work. I was interested in project management and wanted to manage projects myself in the future, so I applied for the TALENTA grant with the aim of becoming more involved in acquisitions, marketing, and project management. I also like the TALENTA network, because through it I’ve met smart, inspiring women from across the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, and I share and discuss ideas with them.

What career goal did you pursue by participating in TALENTA at Fraunhofer IIS and what are your plans for the future?

Many use TALENTA start for their doctorate. In my application, I deliberately ruled out a doctorate in order to develop my skills in project management, acquisition, marketing, and personnel management instead. I’ve completed project management certification and have started managing projects. My current one is a development project for an international client. I’m also involved in our sales activities, I represent us at trade fairs and conferences, and I work on expanding our network. I’d like to gain even more experience in these areas in the future, while maintaining a professional connection to medical image processing.

Can you tell us how TALENTA creates a sense of community?

I’m in the TALENTA start program. The people in my year of the program set up several peer groups; I’m in a group of five. We get together every month to discuss our work and development, and every two months, we have a networking meeting with the entire TALENTA network, alumnae included.

What is the biggest benefit that TALENTA offers you and your research work?

Project work is normally organized around certain questions: What’s financed in the project, what’s the next step? We can’t get through the work packages fast enough. This can make it difficult to keep time free for further training. TALENTA provides me with time that I can use flexibly. I have the opportunity to deepen my knowledge and do some preparatory work. This allowed me to develop faster in the direction I wanted to go.

There’s also the dialogue with the other TALENTAs. We learn from each other. How do other Fraunhofer Institutes, teams, and researchers approach certain tasks and challenges? What can we learn from them? Where do our technologies or skills perhaps complement each other? This provides me with a helpful look beyond my own immediate work area.

The interview was conducted by Saskia McDonagh, editorial team, Fraunhofer IIS Magazine