Dylan George, PhD

Dylan George, PhD, is the director for the Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics (CFA) at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where he leads the Center in building world class data and analytics capabilities to guide interventions in public health emergencies and pandemics. 

 Before joining CDC, Dr. George was a vice president at Ginkgo Bioworks, where he helped develop improved real-time infectious disease monitoring capabilities and analytics for pandemic response. Before Ginkgo, Dr. George was a vice president at In-Q-Tel (IQT), where he vetted life science, healthcare deals, and developed science and technical strategy to strengthen capacity within the United States to counter biological threats from infectious disease. 

 Dr. George has worked in developing data technologies and modeling capabilities for understanding or mitigating outbreaks for over twenty years, including with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) as senior policy advisor for biological threat defense and served on the agency review team for Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) during the COVID-19 response. He has also provided technical expertise and interagency coordination supporting the response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. During 2013–2014, Dr. George worked in the HHS within the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, where he led a team that developed analytical approaches to assess risks from emerging infectious diseases and other mass casualty events. During 2009–2013, Dr. George worked within the Department of Defense on anticipating and assessing infectious disease risks that would affect mission readiness and force health protection. Dr. George also worked at the National Science Foundation within the divisions of Biological Infrastructure and Environmental Biology. While at the National Science Foundation, Dr. George supported the National Ecological Observatory Network and the Ecology of Infectious Diseases program. 

 Dr. George received his PhD from Colorado State University and focused on quantitative analytical approaches for considering how clinically severe pathogens (e.g., Yersinia pestis, rabies) persist within wildlife populations.