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ModiQuest’s founders Dr JMH Raats, Prof Dr WJ van Venrooij and Dr GJM Pruijn, are world leaders in the field of autoimmune diseases. They have successfully developed the well-established diagnostic target for rheumatoid arthritis (CCP), which now forms the basis for marketed diagnostics for RA worldwide.
ModiQuest is headed by CEO, Dr Jos Raats.
Dr Jos Raats, Founder & CEO
Jos is one of the founders of ModiQuest which was established in 2004. He has been involved in scientific research for more than 15 years, with over 45 publications from work at the University of Nijmegen, the Wellcome/CRC Institute in Cambridge (UK), and at the University of Minnesota, in Minneapolis (USA). Currently he also holds a guest appointment as Assistant Professor of Biomolecular Chemistry at the University of Nijmegen (The Netherlands). He has initiated and managed various combined projects of university research groups and commercial enterprises, including a new diagnostic target for rheumatoid arthritis (CCP), which has been developed into a highly sensitive early diagnostic test for RA (anti-CCP test).
Professor Dr Walther van Venrooij, Founder
Professor van Venrooij did his PhD in 1968 at the University of Utrecht, The Netherlands and a post-doctoral research study at Harvard Medical School (Boston). After that he became a full professor of Biochemistry at the Radboud University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands. His research primarily focused on autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis (RA), SLE and myositis. His group was the first to publish that most patients with RA have antibodies directed to citrullinated antigens (1998), a discovery which led his team to develop the CCP2 test, now a serologic criterion for classifying rheumatoid arthritis. In 2002 he received the Carol Nachmann Award for his research on autoimmune diseases and in 2004 he received the Honorary Medal from the Netherlands Society for Rheumatology.
Professor Dr Ger Pruijn, Founder
Prof. Dr. Ger Pruijn (1959) received his M.Sc. degree in chemistry from University of Nijmegen in 1984 and his PhD in 1989 at the University of Utrecht. In 2006 he became Full Professor of Biomolecular Chemistry at the Institute for Molecules and Materials of the Radboud University Nijmegen. His research is focused on autoimmunity molecular biology, in particular the auto-antigenic macromolecular complexes that play a role in nucleolar RNA metabolism and the role of post-translational modifications in autoimmunity.
Dr Renato Chirivi. Head of Hybridoma Generation and In Vivo Validation
Renato is responsible for ModiQuest’s in vivo studies. He has over 20 years’ experience in cancer and neurobiology molecular biology and is an expert in hybridoma generation for antibody discovery.
Dr Guido Jenniskens, Head of Recombinant Antibody Discovery
Guido is responsible for ModiQuest’s antibody lead discovery. He has 15 years’ experience in antibody phage display and other recombinant antibody techniques.
Dr Jos van Rosmalen, Head of Antibody Production
Jos manages all of ModiQuest’s lead molecule production. He has over 15 years’ experience in molecular biology, with a focus on cell signalling of neurodegenerative diseases.
