Meet our Senior Leaders / Dr. Celeste Philip - Assistant Director of Public Health - Biography

Dr. Celeste M. Philip, MD, MPH. who is board certified in Family Medicine as well as Preventive Medicine and Public Health, brings a decade of academic excellence and almost two decades of professional experience to the Volusia County Health Department. In her position as Assistant Director for Public Health, Dr. Philip is responsible for Disease Control, Environmental Health, Nutrition, the Office of Health Promotions and building strong community partnerships to maximize resources and improve public health outcomes. In addition to serving on local coalitions, she is a board member of the American Heart Association Greater Southeast Affiliate and chair of their Cultural Health Initiatives Committee to address health inequities in a six-state region and Puerto Rico. Dr. Philip has served as the Interim Director for Liberty, Calhoun and Volusia County Health Departments. Prior to coming to VCHD, Dr. Philip was the Medical Director at the Polk County Health Department where she supervised physicians and worked closely with clinic managers to improve operations. In Polk County, Dr. Philip also worked as senior physician where she was actively involved in strategic planning, accreditation, and the H1N1 Vaccination Response. She was chair of the Polk Health Care Alliance Infrastructure Committee and lead community health assessment and improvement activities. Dr. Philip provided primary care services to uninsured clients at the Orange County Health Department’s After Hours Clinic, and more recently at Lakeland Volunteers in Medicine where she was also a board member. Previously, she worked at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland as a Research Assistant. Professional training and experience includes: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—Preventive Medicine Resident Healthy Communities Initiative Agency breastfeeding manager School-based dental sealant program Florida State Surgeon General Seal of Walkability criteria development team Centering Pregnancy Steering Committee Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer, Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity· UNICEF anemia project in the Philippines UNICEF complementary feeding project in Niger Infant mortality in Mississippi, 1996-2006 Attitudes toward sugar-sweetened beverages in schools Co-author of MMWRs on US trends in breastfeeding and obesity Dr. Philip received a Bachelor of Arts degree (Magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) from Howard University, in Washington DC majoring in English and Spanish. She continued on to receive a Master of Public Health in maternal and child health, as well as a Doctor of Medicine from Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, CA.