Dennis Ridenour (he/him/his) is President and Chief Executive Officer of BioNexus KC, the coordinating body for the KC region’s life sciences research initiatives.  In this role, Mr. Ridenour fosters regional collaboration while working to increase the concentration and capacity for life sciences and healthcare research in the region. His work makes the region more efficient at commercializing technologies being developed locally, improves the health of patients and animals across the region while reducing and eliminating health disparities, and positively impacts the regional economy by leveraging our strengths at the intersection of human and animal health. Mr. Ridenour is strongly committed to the vision of BioNexus KC, that Kansas City is a global leader at the nexus of human and animal health benefiting all our citizens and the economy.

Prior to joining BioNexus KC, Mr. Ridenour was President and Chief Executive Officer of BioKansas, a regional life science and healthcare trade association. There he managed all facets of the organization, including day-to-day operations, member development and engagement, strategic planning, and finance. Mr. Ridenour previously worked at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research in Kansas City, MO, Merck Research Labs in Boston, MA, and as a researcher in the Department of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School.  Dennis earned a B.S. in Biological Sciences and an M.S. in Veterinary & Biomedical Sciences from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, as well as an M.B.A. from the University of Kansas.

Mr. Ridenour serves as Chair of the Board of Directors for RareKC, a non-profit whose mission is to accelerate the diagnosis, care, and treatment of rare conditions, and as a member of the Board of Directors for the Alphapointe Foundation, a non-profit that works to empower people with vision loss to live, work and be independent.  He also currently serves on several other advisory boards whose work is committed to workforce development and the fight to eliminate health inequities and the systemic barriers that cause them.