Meet Julian Abhari and Dani Marques, Co-Founders of SkinCheck
Julian and Dani, co-founders of SkinCheck, are transforming the fight against skin cancer — a global health challenge responsible for thousands of deaths annually despite being highly treatable when detected early.
Starting as a passion project and evolving through academic research, SkinCheck has emerged as a tool that not only offers a reliable way to detect skin cancer early to people worldwide, but also advances equitable health outcomes.
Julian, give us a little background on you and what you’re currently doing.
JA: For almost a decade I’ve followed my passion to create a cooperative and sustainable future by studying computer science and creating numerous apps, AI models, simulations, games, programs, and websites. Computer science is one of the most powerful fields we have in today’s information age, and it’s clear that with current-day technology we could create a more equitable future that empowers all individuals to follow their dreams. Currently, I’m finishing my undergraduate degrees in computer science and cyber security, but what I’m most passionate about is my work in reducing healthcare problems I know all too well. What initially started as a passion project to create a computer vision tool that could detect skin cancer became an exciting startup with the purpose of making early skin cancer detection possible for everyone.
Julian, what led you to start SkinCheck?
JA: When my mom was 27, she was diagnosed with multiple cases of skin cancer. Thankfully, she had access to great quality healthcare and was able to have routine checkups with a dermatologist. When they found her cancers, it was early enough that she was able to have them removed, but unfortunately, early detection is not available to everyone. Every hour two people die from skin cancer in the U.S., despite the fact that 99% of all skin cancer cases are curable if detected early enough. We need a way to make skin cancer detection convenient and reliable so that more people can receive medical attention before it’s too late.
From its inception in 2019 to now, how has the app evolved?
JA: Initially the app started as a passion project to practice my skills in machine learning, as before this I had been creating machine learning algorithms to solve simulations but was itching to help people in similar situations to my mom. Because of this, it was always of the utmost importance to me that the app was free and accessible to everyone. After creating an initial prototype I decided to give it out to people I knew, and astonishingly, my high-school English teacher used it and found that the red spots on his arm could actually be concerning. Thankfully he got it checked out by a dermatologist and it turned out it was an early form of skin cancer. Later he told me what happened and I couldn’t believe what a life-changing experience it was. I was then inspired to make my primary focus in college be on this skin cancer detection software. After picking a school where there were plenty of professionals and experts in this field of computer vision and machine learning, I began to conduct this research in an academic setting, and quickly the project began to take off. After winning The University of Tulsa’s 25th research colloquium, I knew this tool had the potential to democratize early skin cancer detection for everyone. It was then that one of my good friends and brilliant entrepreneur Dani Marques joined me to turn SkinCheck into a full startup.
Dani, how did you and Julian first meet? What motivated you to join Julian in this venture?
DM: Julian and I met in 2018 during my first year as a foreign exchange student in high school in Tulsa. He was my best friend’s neighbor. As a sophomore in high school, Julian had already started working on the idea of SkinCheck, and I remember being fascinated by his passion and skills regarding AI, machine learning, computer visions, and other verticals of programming. At the time, no one was talking about these things, especially not high-school students.
When I was launching Sky Ventures; the first student-led and focused incubator and venture fund in Oklahoma; I called up my old friend Julian to go through the incubator as a founder of a startup and not as an academic researcher.
There are a lot of factors that motivated me to join Julian. Initially, it was his ingenuity and talent for building such a breakthrough and revolutionary technology at such an early age, his immense passion for building, and his clear and genuine vision of efficiently creating a more equitable and democratized future. As well as of course, being a great friend.
The issue of racial bias in ML/AI algorithms is well-documented — especially in medical datasets. How are you mitigating this?
JA: Mitigating racial biases is a crucial problem that must be solved in order to truly democratize early skin cancer detection for everyone. I mitigate this problem through the use of adversarial learning and domain adaptation, where despite the massive inequalities in data, I’m able to train a machine learning model to check and correct the learned differences across different demographic groups.
With your first round of funding, what are your plans in terms of expanding SkinCheck’s reach and capabilities?
DM: This is an initial phase of bringing our mission to life, which is democratizing access to early skin cancer detection. With our first round of funding, we plan to start deploying our commercialization strategy, pursuing all the steps into regulatory compliance, and finishing the development of our technology to deliver our structured pilots into provider systems.
JA: SkinCheck is expanding to become a triage tool not just for individuals to check up on their skin lesions, but also for individuals to seek treatment and biopsies, as well as for dermatology clinics to remotely monitor their patients and catch concerning developments that may occur.
What’s your experience been like at the University of Tulsa and being a student entrepreneur?
JA: My time at The University of Tulsa began in extraordinary circumstances. To thrive during the Covid pandemic required intentional cooperation and time management skills. Through this struggle, I developed these key skills that have been imperative for my success as a student entrepreneur. It isn’t easy to be a full-time computer science student leading clubs and organizations while managing a team of developers and founding a health tech company, but it’s the most extraordinary journey I’ve had the honor to follow which makes it all worth it.
What has been the most rewarding aspect of the journey so far?
JA: For sure the most rewarding aspect that continues to inspire me are the testimonials from users who have left reviews or told us that they found a concerning skin lesion that was successfully removed because of SkinCheck. It’s through these moments that I know this journey, filled with countless hurdles and challenges that we had to overcome, has been more than worth it. To know that we are actually impacting the lives of tens of thousands of people for the better fills me with great satisfaction.
DM: I would say the most rewarding aspect of the journey so far, is the dozens of testimonials from people we have never met before but who found cancer and received treatment because of SkinCheck. Hearing the stories of individuals who essentially had their lives changed because of our technology is my biggest motivator.
How can the University of Tulsa community, friends, and family support SkinCheck in its mission?
DM: The tech startup and entrepreneurial ecosystem in the region and at the University of Tulsa is very new, although very exciting. Because there is a unique collective effort to have innovation flourish in the community. I believe the University of Tulsa community, friends, and family can support SkinCheck in its mission initially through raising awareness regarding the massive issues regarding early skin cancer detection and the systemic racial biases in diagnosis. And making a collective effort in supporting SkinCheck through advocacy, connections and engagement as we continue the journey of making early skin cancer detection possible, for everyone.
JA: I’d echo everything that Dani said. In addition, it’s always supportive to share the app to keep your friends and family safe!
