MATTHEW B. RENFROW, PHD
Dr. Renfrow is an Analytical Biochemist with expertise in the analysis of protein glycosylation. He received his PhD degree from the University of Georgia. He has 15 years of experience in the development of analytical methods for glycoproteins. Dr. Renfrow is a recognized leader in the analysis of clustered O-glycosylation, specifically IgA1 as related to IgA nephropathy.
WILLIAM J. PLACZEK, PHD
Dr. Placzek is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He received his PhD degree from The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA and completed postdoctoral training at the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute in La Jolla, CA. Dr. Placzek has 14 years of experience in assay development and structure-based drug discovery His research is focused on novel therapeutic target validation and has subsequently identified first-in-class inhibitors for three of these targets.
DANA V. RIZK, MD
Dr. Rizk is currently Professor of Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in the Division of Nephrology. She received her MD degree from the American University of Beirut and completed her Internal Medicine Residency and Nephrology Fellowship at Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Rizk has more than 15 years of experience in the care of kidney patients. Her research interest and expertise is in the treatment of glomerular diseases, in particular IgA Nephropathy.
BRUCE A. JULIAN, MD
Founder
Dr. Julian is a nephrologist and transplant specialist. He received his MD degree from Washington University in St. Louis. He has been active in the field of research on IgA nephropathy for 39 years and is a recognized leader in the clinical manifestations and genetics of the disease. He has published 134 peer-reviewed papers on various aspects of IgA nephropathy.
JAN NOVAK, PHD
Founder
Dr. Novak is one of the world's leading experts in the pathology of IgA nephropathy. He received his Doctorate in Biology degree from Charles University in Prague and Ph.D. from the Institute of Microbiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague. Dr. Novak has 22 years of experience in IgA nephropathy research. His research group discovered the presence of autoantibodies involved in the pathogenesis of the disease. This discovery is the basis for the assays being developed by Reliant Glycosciences, LLC for IgA nephropathy.
TATUM STREET, MBA
Communications Manager
Tatum Street is the lead communications manager of Reliant. She handles the internal and external communications, project manager, and business operations of the business. She received her undergraduate degree in marketing from the University of Alabama and her MBA from the University of Alabama Birmingham. She has many years of experience in the business administration and communications field.
JANUSZ TUCHOLSKI, PHD
Lead Assay Specialist
Dr. Tucholski is the lead assay specialist at Reliant. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland in Biochemistry and subsequently completed postdoctoral fellowships in Cell Biology and Neurobiology. He then spent 15 years working in assay development.
TOMASZ SZUL, PHD
Assay Development Scientist
Dr. Szul received his Ph.D. in Cell Biology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham where he also completed his postdoctoral training in the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine. He has over 20 years of experience in bench research, teaching, and complex scientific problem solving/troubleshooting.