Headed by Mission Hills resident, Takeda California throws party for 10th consecutive year

By Anthony King | SDUN Editor

Keith Wilson, Mission Hills resident and president and Chief Scientific Officer for Takeda California, helped to host a holiday party for at-risk teens at the San Diego Center for Children on Thursday, Dec. 20. The party, held at the Center for Children’s Kearney Mesa location, included gifts and food to create holiday memories for participants.

“Helping the children of the San Diego community is very important to Takeda,” Wilson said in a release. “These kids have been given a second chance with the help of the San Diego Center for Children and we want to help them in any way we can to become working members of our society.”

The Center for Children runs the Clark Adolescent Residential Program, helping children between 13 and 17 years old to overcome trauma, abuse or mental health challenges. The participants, who were treated by Wilson and Takeda, focus on their positive behavior to “gain control” of behavior and emotions, the release said.

The organization is the oldest accredited nonprofit focused on San Diego youth, having been founded in 1887. They oversee five locations throughout the County, and recently organized Our Walk For Kids, a community walk around Mission Bay to help raise funds for their various programs.

Clark Program Director Elizabeth Tebo said their main purpose is helping to achieve success. “Our goal is to provide the children we serve with a happy and supportive childhood to improve their ability to cope and succeed in the world,” she said in the release.

“We are very excited to be working with Takeda California once again,” Tebo said. “Giving the teens in the Clark program a holiday party is something that really means a lot to them.”

This is the 10th year Takeda California – a pharmaceutical research company designing new medicines to treat cancer, diabetes and arthritis – has hosted the party. The San Diego division is a wholly owned subsidiary of the largest pharmaceutical company in Japan, with headquarters in Osaka.

Wilson, who serves on the Center for Children board of trustees, oversees the technology, drug discovery and exploratory medicine divisions at Takeda California, among other duties. He began at Takeda in 2005 after the Japanese company merged with San Diego-based Syrrx, Inc., where Wilson served as vice president of structural biology and vice president of business development. He lives in Mission Hills with his wife and young son.

“I inspire to make Takeda California an extraordinarily productive, fun and rewarding place to work,” Wilson said. “Our employees should have a chance to favorably impact the world through medicine, and their communities through corporately supported social and environmental activism.”

Partnering with nonprofits is a goal of Takeda, and one that Wilson said provides a good way to get involved.

“I have always tried to learn new things at every opportunity, volunteering instead of waiting for someone to offer me a chance,” he said. “Getting involved and willingly taking on additional responsibilities was the single most influential factor in my career.”