MultiplexDX hires new team members

We would like to happily announce that MultiplexDX has expanded by hiring eight new team members since January 2019! MultiplexDX used resources from a recently closed €1.2M Seed B fundraising to strengthen our core team with a new Director of R&D, Team Leader for Next- Generation Sequencing, Team Leader for Automated DNA/RNA Synthesis, four Biochemists as well as a Project Manager.

Let’s introduce them shortly in this article:

Our new Director of Research & Development, Dr. Evan Paul, comes from Colorado, USA. He received a dual PhD in Integrative Physiology and Neuroscience from the University of Colorado Boulder, USA, where he directed an analytical chemistry core unit to detect small molecule neurotransmitters in the brain. He also received a minor degree in Business Administration. He continued his research as a postdoc in Alon Chen’s prestigious laboratory jointly sponsored by the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich, Germany and the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel. There he developed protocols using next generation sequencing and in situ hybridization to quantify and visualize, respectively, microRNAs, with an overarching emphasis on discovering novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets. His discovery of a novel microRNA biomarker and therapeutic target for Depression led to a patent licensed to miCure therapeutics to develop a diagnostic platform. During his 15 years of R&D experience in molecular biology and analytical chemistry, he has published 25+ scientific articles in peer reviewed scientific journals, including prestigious journals like Nature Neuroscience and Neuron.

MultiplexDX hired two team leaders, one for Next-Generation Sequencing and another for Automated DNA/RNA Synthesis.

Dr. Katarina Soltys was hired as an RNA Sequencing Specialist for the MultiplexDX team. Katarina graduated from Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia  with a Master’s degree in Molecular Biology. Later, she received her PhD from the Institute of Neuroimmunology at the Slovak Academy of Sciences. She has 15+ years of extensive professional experience, most notably by identifying novel biomarkers and detecting cancer DNA in the diagnostics and prognostics of breast cancer. Additionally, she has expertise working with RNA viruses as well as detecting symbiotic and pathogenic bacteria.

Our new Team Leader for Automated DNA/RNA Synthesis, Dr. Pavol Kois, is a Nucleic Acid Chemist with 25+ years of research and teaching experience. He worked as a postdoctoral associate in two world-class biomedical institutes in New York City - Rockefeller University and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC). Later, he was Head of the Laboratory of Oligonucleotide Synthesis at Comenius University in Bratislava. His expertise lies in automated DNA/RNA synthesis and modified oligonucleotide synthesis. In his career, he has published more than 50 articles in scientific journals.

We also welcome four new Research Associates involved in automated DNA/RNA synthesis, modified oligonucleotide synthesis, and validating Multiplex9+: Mr. Jakub Novak, Dr. Stanislava Birova and Dr. Monika Radvanszka, Ms. Ivana Cirkova

Mr. Jakub Novak works as a Chemical Safety Manager for Oligonucleotide Production and R&D at MultiplexDX. He graduated from Albion College, Michigan with a Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry. In 2009, he decided to move back to Slovakia and worked as a junior consultant in the field of chemical safety and legislation of the European Union. Later, he was a junior consultant at the REACH Centrum Slovakia LLC as well as a project manager at a chemical distribution company. Moreover, Jakub has expertise in the international trade of organic and inorganic chemicals, polyolefines, and logistics management.

Dr. Stanislava Birova studied at the Faculty of Pharmacy, Comenius University in Bratislava.  She graduated with a Master’s degree and two scientific publications. Later, she pursued her PhD studies at the Faculty of Natural Sciences, where she switched her expertise from Experimental Pharmacology to Molecular Biology and Biotechnology. Her PhD thesis topic focused on the successful isolation of the glycosylated form of the enzyme, alcohol dehydrogenase, from a bacterial host, E. coli, that naturally lacks this type of post-translational modification. To enable this, she acquired ample experience with recombinant DNA techniques, cultivation strategies, protein liquid chromatography-based purification approaches as well as enzymology basics. Stanislava became a great asset to our R&D and automated DNA/RNA synthesis teams.

Dr. Monika Radvanszka is an Expert in Molecular Microbiology and Virology. She finished her PhD at Comenius University in Bratislava with a thesis about modulating antifungal resistance in yeast Candida glabrata and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, successfully co-authoring three publications. Later, she was awarded a FEMS Research Fellowship and worked at the University of Vienna under Dr. Grega’s supervision. Monika decided to move from academia to the biotech startup industry and started to work for BioScience Slovakia. She was responsible for bioinformatics at the viral sequence level, optimization of conditions for pathogen detection in biological samples, molecular diagnostics of selected viral infections, mammalian tissue culture techniques and banking of cell lines, and the projects related to multidrug resistance of yeasts. Dr. Radvanszka will be responsible for MulxiplexDX’s Molecular Biology projects.

The newest member of our team is Ms. Ivana Cirkova. She graduated from the Slovak Technical University in Bratislava with an Engineer’s degree. Her professional career began with an internship at Saneca Pharma in the Analytical Laboratory of Quality Control. Then, in ELLAB s.r.o, she worked as a technician acquiring a deeper knowledge of biochemistry and improving her technological skills by developing new diagnostic methods.

Our new Project Manager, Mr. Igor Tomecek, has 9 years of experience in project management and implementation of the EU Structural Funds, H2020, Interreg and other support instruments. He received his degree in Economics at Matej Bel University (Banska Bystrica, Slovakia). Igor worked at BioScience Slovakia, Neulogy and at the Agency of the Ministry of Education for EU structural funds, where he implemented innovative research projects in the field of diagnostics for oncological diseases. He is motivated by innovative ideas that contribute to the whole society and is passionate about developing and managing projects that can realize the potential of these innovations. Igor leads our project management and reporing to the EU commission.

We are very excited and proud of our new, international “ensemble”.  Each new member is a great asset to our team and brings positive and creative energy to the MultiplexDX community. Please join us in giving them a big warm welcome!