NexDx Appoints V. Michael Holers, M.D. and Robert Plenge, M.D., Ph.D. to Scientific Advisory Board
“We are elated to round out our world class advisory board with two individuals with the experience, capabilities, and qualifications of Mike Holers and Robert Plenge,” said Jonathan Lim, M.D., co-founder, chairman and CEO of NexDx. “Mike is well-known as a leading authority in the field of complement activation and other causal pathways operative in immunoinflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA). His interest in identifying biomarkers that predict development of RA fits squarely within NexDx’s business focus of identifying best-in-class biomarkers for autoimmune disease.
“And, Robert is a pioneer in blazing the trail for identifying novel genetic variants involved with RA and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), two focal diseases of interest for NexDx. Together, these two luminaries round out our stellar advisory board and help guide our cutting edge diagnostic development efforts,” added Dr. Lim.
“I am very pleased to join the NexDx team as a member of the advisory board; NexDx is aggressively pursuing an innovative method for discovering novel biomarkers in disease areas where there is a tremendous need for reliable molecular-based diagnostics,” said Dr. Holers.
Dr. Plenge added, “There are no satisfactory molecular diagnostics available today for diagnosing early stage rheumatoid arthritis with high sensitivity and specificity. The NexDx approach could really change our ability to diagnose and treat patients early and help prevent long term disease associated morbidity.”
Dr. Holers is Professor of Medicine and Immunology at the University of Colorado, as well as Head of the Division of Rheumatology at the University of Colorado Hospital. Articles authored and co-authored by Dr. Holers have been published in several highly respected, peer-reviewed journals, including Arthritis and Rheumatism, Journal of Clinical Investigation, Journal of Immunology, and Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.
Dr. Plenge is Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is also the Director of Genetics and Genomics in the Division of Rheumatology, Immunology and Allergy at Brigham and Women's Hospital and an Associate Member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Articles authored and co-authored by Dr. Plenge have been published in several highly respected, peer-reviewed journals, including New England Journal of Medicine, Science, and Nature Genetics.
ABOUT NEXDX, INC.
NexDx, Inc., located in San Diego, California, is a science driven molecular diagnostics company providing next generation products and services for personalized medicine in rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases.
The company, founded in August 2011 by Jonathan E. Lim, M.D. and Gary S. Firestein, M.D. (Professor of Medicine at UC San Diego), is a pioneer in the application of epigenomics and other next generation molecular approaches to the discovery, development, and commercialization of novel biomarkers and tests for diagnostic and therapeutic applications in autoimmune diseases.
The scientific discoveries that led to the founding of NexDx were published in July 2012 in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (http://bit.ly/QOZ8Zr). The company recently announced the successful closing of a $2.1 million Series B financing led by City Hill Ventures, LLC (http://www.cityhillventures.com/) and a $500,000 capital term loan from Silicon Valley Bank (http://www.svb.com/). For more information, please visit: http://www.nexdx.com