A Different Kind of Health Care Company

Pursuing Purpose

Gene Smart is a preventative health care company whose mission is to empower individuals to take control of their whole health in order to live abundantly.

We are an entrepreneurial company taking on some really BIG issues -- overweight and chronic inflammatory diseases in America and malnutrition and other urgent issues affecting children in Africa.  We are thought leaders dedicated to bringing new real world solutions to address major issues facing our country and our world. 

Our range of innovations include the Living Abundantly Program which is the best solution to integrate prevention into the fabric of America by harnessing the power of social communities; the first Omega 3 Home Blood Test Kit that measures risks associated with heart disease, premature aging, and whole body inflammation to empower individuals with information to make important choices about their food and supplements; and the Gene Smart Anti-Inflammatory Diet & Exercise Program based on the latest understanding of the relationship between our food & exercise, our genes, and our health with emphasis on proven approaches to reduce whole body inflammation and promote healthy active aging. 

Our non-profit, Gene Smart Compassion has developed and is expanding its Heroes Helping Heroes program, which is a new model for creating a sustainable community of orphans by uniting communities in America to empower impoverished communities around the world.  We are also working to create new solutions to address the crisis of malnutrition among young children in Sub-Saharan Africa and other developing areas and have made ground breaking scientific discoveries towards that goal.

Through our sister organization, Gene Smart Health, we have discovered and are developing a new botanical source of omega 3 ingredients for the food and supplement industries that would provide an effective, sustainable, renewable & vegetarian alternative to fish oil.  We are also developing new products designed to prevent and treat chronic inflammatory conditions in humans and animals.

And, we have more major exciting innovations in our pipeline that will empower new breakthroughs in community-based and personal wellness.

Our History

Three visionary entrepreneurs.  A dream team of industry experts.  Whole health & wellness to the masses.

Gene Smart had its beginning in late 2007 when three men joined forces with the goal of creating a new type of health care company - one that looks at the world from a new perspective in order to envision new, practical, real world solutions to empower individuals to take control of their health.  These new perspectives have led to breakthrough approaches like parterning with churches and community organizations to host Living Abundantly Programs, measuring Omega-3 Index because it is a better predictor of heart disease than cholesterol, and developing a diet and exercise lifestyle that reduces whole body inflammation because it is an underlying factor in so many of our health conditions.

Our Founders

Keith Wakeman our CEO, is a general manager and marketing veteran with extensive experience creating and growing market-led businesses in the wellness, food & nutrition markets:

• Over 20 years leading business, brands, new ventures & innovation for top tier companies including Kellogg, Keebler, Nabisco, & Procter & Gamble
• Led new venture strategy & development for $9 billion Kellogg Company and $2 billion Keebler company
• Serves on boards for several like-minded socially-conscious organizations
• Created new businesses and products with total annual sales over $1 billion

Ross Consaul, our SVP Innovation, is a new product & business venture development executive with proven experience matching science and technology possibilities with market needs:

• Over 20 years experience leading R&D, new product development and new ventures for large and small companies including Bayer, Kellogg, Pizza Hut and Kashi
• Led new ventures in the health, wellness and nutrition industries for the $38 billion Bayer Company
• Created new products and businesses with total annual sales of $2 billion

Dr. Ski Chilton, our Chief Science Advisor, is a scientific innovator and world leader in understanding relationships between nutrition, gene expression, inflammation and health

• Director, The Center for Botanical Lipids, a collaboration between Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, and University of Denver supported with a $8 million grant from the National Institute of Health
• Full Professor in the Department of Physiology & Pharmacology at Wake Forest University Health Sciences
• Author of three books including Inflammation Nation and The Gene Smart Diet

Since those early days, the Gene Smart team has grown, both organically and through carefully selected strategic partnerships.  And the company is blessed with a world-class advisory board of thought leaders that bring expertise across the business functions to help the company achieve its mission.

Our Nation is in a Health Crisis

Over 2/3 of American’s are overweight or obese, and these levels continue to increase.  At the same time, obesity-related inflammatory diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, asthma, allergies, depression and Alzheimer's disease are increasing at dramatic rates.

Health care accounts for $1 in every $6 spent in the United States – and costs are climbing at twice the rate of inflation.  Although we have the world’s most expensive health care system, 24 countries have a longer life expectancy according to the latest United Nations report.  Gene Smart believes that science based prevention, at the individual level, and integrated into our communities, is one of the best strategies to contain these skyrocketing costs.

More and more, American’s are interested in prevention and wellness.  However, most resources available to support this interest were developed to address only part of the equation.  For example, our health care system was designed to treat the sick, and most weight loss programs are focused on improving how individuals look on the outside.  Health information is confusing, and often contradictory.  That is why we focus on prevention and wellness.  The strategies in the Gene Smart Program are based on real science, proven in studies with thousands of people.

A Healthy World

Our mission of empowering individuals to take control of their whole health also extends to children in Africa and other developing areas of the world.  We have established a non-profit sister organization, Gene Smart Compassion, that utilizes our gifts of leading first world science, product development, marketing, and spirit of collaboration to enrich the lives of orphans and other vulnerable children.  Among our initiatives is the development new solutions to address the crisis of malnutrition which is rendering millions of children throughout Africa with under-developed immune systems, brains and stunted physical growth. 

The science of our work in America and in Africa are closely related, but at opposite ends of the immunity spectrum.  In America, we are overfed and undernourished, causing our immune systems to be over stimulated, and leading to whole body inflammation and inflammatory diseases.  Malnourishment in Africa is a result of being underfed and undernourished, which leads to under developed immune systems.  Our scientific understanding of the immune and inflammatory response allows us to apply our gifts to meet the needs of these critically important and seemingly disparate challenges.