Cambridge Student Sonja Marjanovic has been named Europe’s top young innovator in global technology in today’s issue of Red Herring Magazine.

In 2003 Sonja, along with two fellow PhD students Nic Ross, Illian Iliev and Dr Charles Pritchard entered the Cambridge University Entrepreneur business plan competition, sponsored by the Cambridge-MIT Institute and won the People, Planet, Productivity category for DiagnovIS.

The company’s core product is a compact automated diagnostic unit that uses digital microscopy and artificial intelligence software to screen tissue samples for infectious agents. Primarily intended for use in the developing world, the DiagnovIS team is working on developing a novel, accurate, affordable and accessible method for diagnosing a range of infectious and parasitic diseases including malaria, tuberculosis, gonnorrhoea and chlamydia.

According to Sonja, DiagnovIS' product will cost about a quarter of the price of comparable technologies available now while it will not require highly skilled or specially trained pathologists to use it - a major advantage for developing countries.

Sonja speaks very enthusiastically about the company and is confident for its potential both in terms of its profitability as well as giving something back.

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