Team

Scientists and Experts Working for the Public Good

Over 30 team members bring a full range of expertise to Usona operations, including psychiatry, integrative medicine, medicinal chemistry, pharmaceutical manufacturing, quality assurance, and regulatory affairs in multiple countries.

Collage of photos featuring Usona Institute team members

Founders

Bill Linton

Executive Director and Co-Founder

Leadership Team and Key Technical Experts

Bill Linton

Executive Director and Co-Founder

Poncho Meisenheimer, PhD

Director, Chemistry

Charles (Chuck) Raison, MD

Director of Clinical and Translational Research

Mike Davis, MD, PhD

Chief Medical Officer

Tura Patterson

Senior Director, Strategic Partnerships

Robert Kargbo, PhD

API & DP Development, CMC Lead

Alex Sherwood, PhD

Medicinal Chemist

Poonam Gunjal

Director, Commercial Development

Leanne Leonard

Director, Clinical Operations

Gary Tarpley, PhD

Scientific Advisor

John LeBlanc

Treasurer

Sarah Schneider

Manager, Human Resources Business Partner

Board of Directors

Bill Linton

Executive Director and Co-Founder

Rick Langer

Board Member

Mathew J. Saur

Board Member

Clinical Advisory Board

Charles (Chuck) Raison, MD - Chair

Professor of Human Ecology and Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, Director of the Vail Health Behavioral Health Innovation Center, and Director of Clinical and Translational Research for Usona Institute

Heidi Allen, PhD

Associate Professor in the School of Social Work at Columbia University

Robin Carhart-Harris, PhD

Ralph Metzner Distinguished Professor in Neurology and Psychiatry and Director of Neuroscape’s Psychedelics Division at the University of California, San Francisco

Tom Laughren, MD

Retired Division Director for the Division of Psychiatry Products

Rosalind (Ros) Watts, DClinPsy

Clinical Lead of the Psilocybin for Depression Study at Imperial College London

Bennet Zelner, PhD

Associate Professor of Business and Public Policy at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, College Park