About Spot the Dot
Spot the Dot is an NGO working with artists, athletes, patients, and dermatologists from around the world to raise awareness of melanoma and other types of skin cancer. The aim of all projects is to encourage people to start a conversation with their loved ones (and their physician) about the importance of prevention and detection of skin cancer.
Download a 2025 English slide deck here
Honors & Awards
Winner of a Patient Innovation Award 2024
Issued by Novartis · November 2024
For the project “Barrierefreie Hautkrebsvorsorge” in the category New Channels and Digital Tools in Patient Communication
Shortlisted for the VOLUMES Book Award
Issued by VOLUMES Zürich · November 2024
For the Spotted Realities book
Winner of Best of Pharma Advertising 2023
Issued by Pharma Marketing Club Austria · June 2023
For our Do You campaign in the categories “multi-channel campaign”
Nominated for another 2 categories.
Winner of a Patient Innovation Award
Issued by Novartis · Jun 2022
For the Don’t Fade Away campaign in the category: New channels and digital tools in patient communication
Winner of a Bronze CCA Venus Award 2022
Issued by Creative Club Austria · May 2022
For the ‘Love your body. Check your skin’ campaign
Winner of a Patient Innovation Award
Issued by Novartis · Jun 2021
For the Check-A-Mole game in the category “Increasing Disease Awareness”
Winner of two ‘Goldene Skalpell’ Awards
Best of Pharma Advertising 2019 Winner of two ‘Goldene Skalpell’ Awards
Issued by Pharma Marketing Club Austria · June 2019
For our Rebel Against Skin Cancer video campaign l in the categories “multi-channel campaign” and “film & video”.
Nominated for the 2017 V!VA 400 award for Most Inspiring Women
Founder Marije Kruis was nominated for this award for her work with Spot the Dot in the category: World Improvers
Issued by VIVA 2017
Member of the Global Melanoma Patient Advocacy Coalition
Spot the Dot is an official member of the Global Melanoma Patient Advocacy Coalition and a global workgroup aiming to join forces on raising awareness of melanoma on a global level. https://www.globalmelanoma.org
Member of the Die Allianz
Die Allianz is a collective of patient organizations and advocates focused on oncology. With their extensive expertise and network, they’re dedicated to improving cancer care in Austria by facilitating collaboration and staying abreast of the latest research. www.dieallianz.org
Founder
Spot the Dot was founded in 2015 by melanoma patient Marije Kruis, who is Dutch but lives in Austria. That is why the foundation is registered in Austria. The working language is English, but we also try to translate as many projects as possible into Dutch and German (as well as French and Spanish) to make all projects accessible to everyone.
“A few years ago a friend who was a physiotherapist pointed out a tiny spot on my lower leg and told me to have a dermatologist look at it. I took up his advice and to make a long (medical) story short, that spot which looked so innocent to me, was already a far progressed melanoma. In the following year, I heard so many misconceptions about skin cancer from people around me, which made me realize that there is such a big need to raise more awareness around this topic. Hearing these misconceptions motivated me to start my own foundation, Spot The Dot.” – Marije Kruis
Connect with Marije via LinkedIn