Charity Dean

Dr. Charity Dean is the CEO, Founder, and Chairman of PHC Global, a venture-backed technology company.

In August 2020 Dr. Dean founded PHC Global, envisioning a commercial grade global biosecurity software platform to empower enterprises to manage bio risk at scale. Dr. Dean’s obsession with building a new solution was born out of 24 years in public health and the recognition that technological advancements could birth this entirely new capability of anticipatory intelligence for biological threats. Dr. Dean previously served as the Assistant Director for the California Department of Public Health where she was part of the executive team under Governor Newsom running the COVID-19 pandemic response. She co-founded and co-chaired California’s COVID-19 Testing Task Force and under her leadership, California went from ranking last in the nation for testing to first in three months. In 2019, Dr. Dean served as Acting State Public Health Officer and directed California’s response to biological threats including terrorism, disease outbreaks, natural disasters, mass evacuations, mass casualty events, and chemical contamination, overseeing 4,300 staff with an annual operating budget of $3.5 billion.

Before her appointment to statewide office, she served as the Public Health Officer for Santa Barbara County and oversaw a myriad of disease outbreaks and biological threats; she also served as an attending physician for TB, HIV, and homeless medicine at the Santa Barbara Health Care Centers. Dr. Dean was awarded Physician of the Year in 2018 by the Central Coast Medical Association and honored as one of the Women of the Year by the California State Legislature.

She is a co-author of "Lessons from the COVID War." Her public career is the focus of Michael Lewis’ book "The Premonition." She has shared her insights about the danger of biological threats and the capabilities we must build before the next crisis in several interviews and podcasts.

Dr. Dean holds a Doctor of Medicine and Master of Public Health and Tropical Medicine from Tulane University and a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology from Oregon State University, where she delivered the 2023 Commencement Address and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Public Health.