David M. Carlisle, MD, PhD, presently serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science (CDU) in the Watts-Willowbrook area of Los Angeles County since 2011. Dr. Carlisle is a published author in health policy, quality of care, medical education diversity and eliminating health disparities. A board-certified Internal Medicine specialist, his clinical work has always revolved around caring for the underserved.

President Carlisle graduated from Wesleyan University, majoring in chemistry. He then earned his Medical Degree from Brown University, his Master of Public Health and his PhD in Health Services Research from the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.  He completed a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program fellowship at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA in 1990.

Dr. Carlisle has been affiliated with the UCLA Department of Medicine for approximately thirty-one years, becoming a tenured Associate Professor in 1998. He is presently a Professor of Medicine and Public Health at CDU and an Adjunct Professor of Medicine at UCLA.

President Carlisle served as Director of the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development for eleven years (2000-2011) under Governor Gray Davis, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Governor Jerry Brown. Under his leadership, OSHPD released its first-ever health disparities reports, increased scholarship and loan repayment opportunities for health providers committed to practice in underrepresented, under-resourced and underserved communities, and successfully administered hospital seismic safety as well as health facility loan insurance programs.

In 2007, Dr. Carlisle became a Senior Fellow at UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs and served as a member of the Advisory Council of the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health from 2017-2022. In 2018 he was appointed as a member of the California Future Health Workforce Commission.  In 2018, he was appointed to the Board of Trustees for the California Health Care Foundation and served as a Council Member of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Economic Advisory Council.  In 2023, he was appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom to the Health Care Affordability Board.  He is also a founding member of the BioScienceLA Board.

Dr. Carlisle has lived in Los Angeles and Sacramento for almost 40 years. He is married to Dr. Sylvia Carlisle and together they have two children, David and Aimee, both defense attorneys.

Current Term

2024 - 2027