Tom Denison
Founder of SmartHealth Catalyzer
Tom Denison
Founder of SmartHealth Catalyzer
Greater Chicago Area
Overview
Work Experience
Co-founder, Board Director, CEO & Chief Relationship Officer
2019 - Current
SmartHealth Catalyzer is the Hub for Midwest Biomedical Venture Creation. We build and seed fund biomedical startups around the most promising biomedical innovations being developed at Midwest universities and research hospitals.
Board Director
2022
Focused on the development of novel therapeutic drugs to treat demyelinating, inflammatory, and neurodegenerative diseases.
Board Director
2022
Saros Therapeutics is working to enhance patients' response to immunotherapy by harnessing the STING pathway with a strategy to overcome the limitations of prior STING agonists. Combined with existing immunotherapies, this approach could enable a safe and more effective immune response against the tumor than immunotherapy alone.
Founder & President
2014
SmartHealth Activator is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) that shines a brighter light on extraordinary biomedical innovations being developed at Midwest universities and research hospitals. SmartHealth hosts a monthly event series called BioPathways, that features prominent local bioentrepreneurs and biotech VCs in a fireside chat.
Founding Director - Chicago
2012 - 2022
Startup Grind is an event series designed to help educate, inspire, and connect local entrepreneurs. Each month we welcome an amazing speaker from Chicago who shares their story with our community and tells us what worked, what didn't, and what they'll do differently next time. It's an amazing opportunity to learn from the best, network with other members of the Chicago startup community, and improve your chances of entrepreneurial success.
Executive Producer
2017 - 2019
Freedom, and the fight for it, bonds together the lives and music of Exoneree Band. Its five members, Raymond Towler, William Michael Dillon, Antoine Day, Eddie Lowery, and Ted Bradford collectively spent more than a century in prison for crimes they did not commit. Their music provides an outlet for the emotions that come from their struggles as innocent men incarcerated. It's a way to explain how they survived and continue to deal with their lost youths, adjusting to life in a changed world. Exoneree Band plays music to inspire, to heal and to fight for justice. Their stories are heartbreaking, gut-wrenching, frustrating, and compelling tales of injustice. Our mission is to help these five men, shine a much brighter light on the massive atrocity of wrongful convictions and to activate anyone with an ounce of empathy to help fight for justice. Our vision is to feature each band member in a segment of a documentary, with a common thread of preparing for an imminent performance and tour. The final segment will culminate with the band, lights low, walking on stage.
Founder & CEO
2010 - 2017
I am the Founder of Funl, a collection of savvy digital marketing experts who “Provide the expertise and resources needed to drive a large, loyal and profitable customer base.” Funl also builds web and mobile experiences that attract, engage and delight our clients' customers.
Vice President, eMedia
2008 - 2009
With a staff of 25, responsibilities were primarily dedicated to taking a strategic look at the internet landscape and firmly positioning Vance as a leader in the digital world while driving revenue. Under my direction, the eMedia team managed SEM, email marketing, web development, web design, new product development, mobile marketing, custom content development, lead generation and advertising sales for over 60 sites, nearly 100 eNewsletters and eight mobile sites. Developed and executed three year business plan for a new division within Vance Publishing, a B2B publishing firm, that provided digital solutions including SEM, web design, web development, mobile marketing, social media marketing, email marketing and custom content for external clients across four divisions. Responsibilities also included digital sales training for 25 salespeople.
Business Development Director
2007 - 2008
Headed all Business Development with AGENCY.COM - Chicago. AGENCY.COM is a full service interactive agency with 10 offices all around the world. Within first six months secured more than $1,000,000 in new business from two Fortune 250 firms and opened the doors to Proctor & Gamble, Anheuser-Busch, Wrigley and others.
Director of eCommerce
2005 - 2007
P&L and management responsibilities for all online and offline marketing efforts for PersonalCreations.com, a top 200 Internet Retailer. Increased online sales in the 4th quarter of 2005 by 48%, year-over-year. That same year increased ROAS 83%. In 2006, increased online advertising sales 66% and ROAS 15%. Selected Best of the Web Top 50 by Internet Retailer. Acquired by Provide Commerce Inc.
Education
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Startup Grind Chicago Launch Party — Summer ‘18
Talks about Startup, Tech Startups and Startup Life