Who We Are

Our Leadership Galvanizes Us

William H. Carson, MD
Chairman of the Board

Through 2019, William served as President & CEO of Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc. (OPDC) with a proven track record of successful clinical development of pharmaceutical compounds leading to worldwide regulatory authority approval. William is a board-certified psychiatrist and holds a BA from Harvard College and an MD from Case Western Reserve University. He is a member of the American Psychiatric Association, the National Medical Association, and the Executive Leadership Council. William is also Chairman of the Board of Directors of OPDC.

Kabir Nath
Board Member

Kabir has almost thirty years of broad international biopharmaceutical and medical device experience. He joined Otsuka in March 2016 to head all North American commercial operations. In March 2018 he was appointed to the board of Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (OPC), with responsibility for North America. In March 2020, he was appointed Senior Managing Director, Global Pharmaceutical Business, OPC, with overall operational leadership for the global pharma business, overseeing the regions of North America, Europe, Japan, and the rest of Asia. Kabir’s responsibilities include brand strategy, sales and marketing, clinical development, and business development. He continues to run the North American business in parallel.

Read More Kabir holds an MA from King’s College, University of Cambridge, and an MBA with Distinction from Institut Européen d’Administration des Affaires (INSEAD).

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Mary Chi Michael
Board Member

Mary has more than 25 years of experience in the healthcare industry developing and incubating novel business solutions across a diverse portfolio of healthcare arenas—biopharmaceuticals, orphan disease, digital health, and technology alliance partnerships. She has worked in both large multi-national and start-up environments across nearly 20 different therapeutic categories. Currently, she is the Vice President of Patient Advocacy and Stakeholder Management at OAPI overseeing a vast array of first-in-company and first-in-industry initiatives including Health IT solutions and digital medicine.

Mary earned a BS in Biology (microbiology) and a minor in Chemistry from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Melissa Beck
Executive Director

Melissa is the inaugural Executive Director of the Sozosei Foundation. She brings 20 years of experience in the nonprofit sector, managing and growing large-scale, nonprofit and philanthropic organizations. Prior to joining the Sozosei Foundation, she served as Executive Director of The Educational Foundation of America (EFA), a family foundation that supports a range of organizations through grantmaking and impact investing activities. Before joining EFA, Melissa was CEO of Legal Information for Families Today (LIFT), a nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing access to justice for children and families throughout New York State. Prior to her role at LIFT, she championed criminal justice reform on a national and local scale with a focus on decriminalizing mental illness.

Read More Before joining the nonprofit sector, Melissa was a litigator, working as a prosecutor in the Brooklyn DA's Office and as a criminal defense attorney. She was also an adjunct professor of Nonprofit Management at New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service and an adjunct professor in the Political Science Department at Fordham University.

Melissa has authored numerous articles on nonprofit management and social justice issues, and has participated in many panel discussions and debates. She also holds volunteer leadership positions for several nonprofit organizations including the Correctional Association of New York and The Support Center on Nonprofit Management.

A graduate of Hampshire College, Melissa earned her JD from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and holds a certificate in nonprofit management from the Columbia Business School.

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