Charity Dean

Last updated
Charity Dean
Alma mater Tulane University School of Medicine and Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine
OccupationCEO / Public Health Physician
OrganizationThe Public Health Company
Website https://www.phc.health/

Charity Dean is an American public health physician who is known for her work as the assistant director of the California Department of Public Health in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. She is the co-founder and CEO of The Public Health Company.

Contents

Early life and education

Dean grew up in rural Oregon and became interested in becoming a doctor and studying infectious disease as a young child. [1] She completed a B.S. in Microbiology at Oregon State University, an M.D. from Tulane University School of Medicine, and a Master of Public Health and Tropical Medicine from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. [2] From 2008 through 2011, she was an internal medicine resident at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital. [3]

Career

As a public health official in Santa Barbara County, Dean gained experience with containment of infectious disease outbreaks, including meningitis in 2013 [4] and tuberculosis in 2014. [5] From 2011 through 2014, she was the deputy public health officer for the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department, [3] and from 2014 through 2018, she was the public health officer for the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department. [6]

In late 2018, [7] she became the assistant director of the California Department of Public Health. [4] [8] In January 2020, she began to warn state officials about COVID-19, [9] based on reports from China, [10] [11] and continued for months. [4] In April 2020, she was also appointed as co-chair of the California COVID-19 testing task force, which included efforts to expand access to testing. [12] [13] Her work included coordination with elected officials and the White House Coronavirus Task Force. [14] She left her position as the assistant director of the California Department of Public Health in July 2020, [8] after submitting her resignation on June 4, [15] and then began "tweeting news and information, some of which could be seen as a comment on California’s COVID testing and response," according to Deadline in August 2020. [16]

In July 2020, she was featured in the ABC News 20/20 investigative report American Catastrophe, [17] and in May 2021, she was featured in a 60 Minutes broadcast about the book The Premonition by Michael Lewis. [18] She is one of the experts profiled in the book, [5] [10] and named by Lewis as "one of the people who saw the real danger of the virus before the rest of the country did," according to NPR. [19]

In August 2020, she co-founded The Public Health Company, [5] [1] which has created software to assist the public health community and businesses with managing the risks of infectious disease. [20] She has also continued to publicly offer her expert opinion about COVID-19 responses [21] [22] and responding to pandemics generally. [23]

Honors and awards

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph DeRisi</span> American biochemist

Joseph Lyman DeRisi is an American biochemist, specializing in molecular biology, parasitology, genomics, virology, and computational biology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">COVID-19 pandemic</span> Pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2

The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is a global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified in an outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019. Attempts to contain it there failed, allowing the virus to spread to other areas of Asia and later worldwide in 2020. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) on 30 January 2020. The WHO ended its PHEIC declaration on 5 May 2023; prior to this, some countries had already begun to regard COVID-19 as an endemic disease. As of 8 August 2023, the pandemic had caused 768,982,331 cases and 6,953,730 confirmed deaths, ranking it fifth in the deadliest epidemics and pandemics in history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neil Ferguson (epidemiologist)</span> British epidemiologist and researcher

Neil Morris Ferguson is a British epidemiologist and professor of mathematical biology, who specialises in the patterns of spread of infectious disease in humans and animals. He is the director of the Jameel Institute, and of the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, and head of the Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology in the School of Public Health and Vice-Dean for Academic Development in the Faculty of Medicine, all at Imperial College London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">COVID-19 pandemic in the United States</span> COVID-19 viral pandemic in the United States

In the United States, the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has resulted in 103,436,829 confirmed cases with 1,127,152 all-time deaths, the most of any country, and the 20th-highest per capita worldwide. The COVID-19 pandemic ranks first on the list of disasters in the United States by death toll; it was the third-leading cause of death in the U.S. in 2020, behind heart disease and cancer. From 2019 to 2020, U.S. life expectancy dropped by 3 years for Hispanic and Latino Americans, 2.9 years for African Americans, and 1.2 years for white Americans. These effects persisted as U.S. deaths due to COVID-19 in 2021 exceeded those in 2020, and life expectancy continued to fall from 2020 to 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Syra Madad</span> American pathogen preparedness expert

Syra Madad is an American pathogen preparedness expert and infectious disease epidemiologist. Madad is the Senior Director of the System-wide Special Pathogens Program at NYC Health + Hospitals where she is part of the executive leadership team which oversees New York City's response to the Coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in the city's 11 public hospitals. She was featured in the Netflix documentary series Pandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak and the Discovery Channel documentary The Vaccine: Conquering COVID.

The COVID-19 pandemic in Cayman Islands was a part of the ongoing global viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which was confirmed to have reached the British Overseas Territory of the Cayman Islands in March 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">COVID-19 pandemic in the Solomon Islands</span> Ongoing COVID-19 viral pandemic in Solomon Islands

The COVID-19 pandemic in the Solomon Islands is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was confirmed to have reached the Solomon Islands on 3 October 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">COVID-19 pandemic in Belize</span> Ongoing COVID-19 viral pandemic in Belize

The COVID-19 pandemic in Belize is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was confirmed to have reached Belize on 23 March 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bonnie Henry</span> Canadian public health officer

Bonnie J. Fraser Henry is a Canadian physician and public servant who has been the provincial health officer at the British Columbia Ministry of Health since 2014. Henry is also a clinical associate professor at the University of British Columbia. She is a specialist in public health and preventive medicine, and is a family doctor. In her role as provincial health officer, Henry notably led the response to COVID-19 in British Columbia (BC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">COVID-19 pandemic in the Turks and Caicos Islands</span> Ongoing COVID-19 viral pandemic in Turks and Caicos Islands

The COVID-19 pandemic in the Turks and Caicos Islands is part of the ongoing global viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which was confirmed to have reached the British Overseas Territory of the Turks and Caicos Islands on 23 March 2020, and the first death occurred on 5 April. On 12 May, all cases were declared resolved, but on 20 June, new cases had been discovered. On 4 July 2021, all cases resolved again. On 8 July, new cases were discovered.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caitlin Rivers</span> American emerging infectious disease epidemiologist

Caitlin M. Rivers is an American epidemiologist who as Senior Scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, specializing on improving epidemic preparedness. Rivers is currently working on the American response to the COVID-19 pandemic with a focus on the incorporation of infectious disease modeling and forecasting into public health decision making.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nancy Messonnier</span> American medical epidemiologist at the CDC

Nancy Messonnier is an American physician who served as the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2016 to 2021. She worked on the CDC's response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.

Allison Joan McGeer is a Canadian infectious disease specialist in the Sinai Health System, and a professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology at the University of Toronto. She also appointed at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and a Senior Clinician Scientist at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, and is a partner of the National Collaborating Centre for Infectious Diseases. McGeer has led investigations into the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak in Toronto and worked alongside Donald Low. During the COVID-19 pandemic, McGeer has studied how SARS-CoV-2 survives in the air and has served on several provincial committees advising aspects of the Government of Ontario's pandemic response.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colleen Kraft</span> American medical researcher

Colleen S. Kraft is an infectious disease physician, associate professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and the director of the Clinical Virology Research Laboratory at Emory University School of Medicine. In 2014, she led Emory University Hospital's effort to treat and care for Ebola virus disease patients and is currently working to address the COVID-19 pandemic in Georgia. She currently serves on Georgia's COVID-19 task force.

Natalie E. Dean is an American biostatistician specializing in infectious disease epidemiology. Dean is currently an assistant professor of Biostatistics at the University of Florida. Her research involves epidemiological modeling of outbreaks, including Ebola, Zika and COVID-19.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">COVID-19 pandemic in Tokelau</span>

The COVID-19 pandemic in Tokelau is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. Tokelau reported its first confirmed case on 21 December 2022. COVID-19 reached all three of Tokelau's main atolls in July 2023, when the government confirmed the community spread of the virus on Fakaofo, the last atoll without infections.

The following is a timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in California.

Michael Joseph Mina is an American epidemiologist, immunologist and physician. He was formerly an assistant professor of Epidemiology & Immunology and Infectious Diseases at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, assistant Professor of Pathology at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and currently Chief Medical Officer at eMed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California government response to the COVID-19 pandemic</span> Actions by the California state government regarding the COVID-19 pandemic

The government of California initially responded to the COVID-19 pandemic in the state with a statewide lockdown, the first of its kind during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. As the pandemic progressed in California and throughout the rest of the country, the California government, following recommendations issued by the U.S. government regarding state and local government responses, began imposing social distancing measures and workplace hazard controls.

Amy Greer is an infectious disease epidemiologist. She is an associate professor in the Department of Population Medicine, Ontario Veterinary College at the University of Guelph. Greer is a Canada Research Chair in Population Disease Modeling.

References

  1. 1 2 Loizos, Connie (May 11, 2021). "Disease-related risk management is now a thing, and this young startup is at the forefront". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2021-05-12.
  2. 1 2 "Charity Dean MD, MPH&TM". USC Schaeffer. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  3. 1 2 Molina, Joshua (September 28, 2018). "Dr. Charity Dean of Santa Barbara County Appointed to Statewide Public Health Post". Noozhawk. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 Confessore, Nicholas (2021-05-06). "Michael Lewis Chronicles the Story of Covid's Cassandras". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2021-05-12.
  5. 1 2 3 Szalai, Jennifer (May 3, 2021). "The Pandemic Gets the Michael Lewis Treatment, Heroic Technocrats and All". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  6. "Dr. Charity Dean lands state leadership role". ABC3. September 29, 2018. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  7. Lewis, Michael. "America's war against Covid? This woman was at its centre". The Times. ISSN   0140-0460 . Retrieved 2021-05-12.
  8. 1 2 Bollag, Sophia (August 9, 2020). "Update: California public health director leaves job 5 months into COVID-19 pandemic". The Sacramento Bee. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  9. Brangham, William; Thoet, Alison (May 6, 2021). "The 'ignored characters' of the pandemic and why their premonitions were pushed aside". PBS NewsHour. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  10. 1 2 Dickerson, John (May 2, 2021). "Doctors, scientists who warned officials about oncoming pandemic focus of new Michael Lewis book". CBS News. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  11. Delistraty, Cody (May 3, 2021). "Michael Lewis's 'The Premonition': A Closer Look at How the Pandemic Response Went Awry". The Wall Street Journal Magazine. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  12. Molina, Joshua (April 9, 2020). "Santa Barbara's Dr. Charity Dean at Center of Effort to Create COVID-19 Testing Hubs". Noozhawk . Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  13. "'Not Out Of The Woods': Newsom Pleads For Continued Social Distancing, Launches State Testing Task Force". CBS2. April 4, 2020. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  14. Baumgaertner, Emily (July 30, 2020). "California scales back coronavirus testing task force despite long lines, new outbreaks". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  15. "Public health officials are facing political pressure, threats and armed protests as states push to reopen". CNBC. Associated Press. June 12, 2020. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  16. Tapp, Tom (August 10, 2020). "California Coronavirus Update: Governor Gavin Newsom Addresses Major Data Issues Amid Resignations, New Ethics Complaint About $1B Deal: "I'm Governor, The Buck Stops With Me"". Deadline . Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  17. Donnelly, Jim (July 23, 2020). "Watch the 20/20 "American Catastrophe" special Tuesday". ABC . Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  18. Farnsworth, Beth (May 4, 2021). "Dr. Charity Dean focus of 60 Minutes "The Premonition" segment on COVID-19". ABC3. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  19. Martin, Rachel (May 3, 2021). "Michael Lewis' 'The Premonition' Is A Sweeping Indictment Of The CDC". NPR.org. Retrieved 2021-05-12.
  20. Mercado, Jorge (May 28, 2021). "Public health meets private sector with Charity Dean's new venture". Pacific Coast Business Times. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  21. Welsh, Nick (February 11, 2021). "Public Health Expert Says Santa Barbara COVID Doctors Are 'Doing a Fantastic Job'". Santa Barbara Independent. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  22. Morrar, Sawsan (March 11, 2021). "California to offer affordable rapid COVID tests to school districts returning to campus". The Sacramento Bee. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  23. Ghobrial, Adrian (June 2, 2021). "Should local governments be responsible for pandemic response? Lessons learned so far". Toronto City News. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  24. "CMA Doc: Charity Dean, M.D." California Medical Association. December 17, 2018. Retrieved 31 May 2021.