Meet Our Scholars

Brian grew up in a vibrant Russian-American community in Los Angeles, which was just down the street from the city's LGBTQ+ neighborhood but still felt worlds away. After becoming exposed to the inequities and stigma facing LGBTQ+ individuals, including his own experiences with marginalization, he became passionate about pursuing a career dedicated to uplifting LGBTQ+ health and wellbeing. At Stanford University, he pursued a bachelor's degree in Human Biology with a public health concentration, followed by a master's degree in Management Science with a focus on health policy and management. At the university's Queer Community Center, he ran a program to support the mental health and wellbeing of incoming first years, and he also directed Stanford's student-led Sexual Health Peer Resource Center, which provides sexual health resources and educational programming to the student body. Brian also spent 4 years working at Stanford University's free clinic as a health insurance and social services enrollment counselor, and then spent a year managing the clinic and its 100+ person volunteer staff . One of his proudest achievements is establishing a comprehensive LGBTQ+ health initiative at the clinic, an ongoing program to train an inclusive clinical team and establish robust referral networks and community partnerships to support the clinic's patients. After graduating, Brian was awarded Stanford's John Gardner Fellowship, which granted him funding to work as a health policy fellow for Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-WA) of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. Following this experience, he joined the legislative staff of Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), the first openly gay member of the U.S. Senate. Brian is particularly proud to champion her efforts on LGBTQ+ health, including initiatives to fully address the discrimination that trans individuals face in health care settings and to end the FDA's discriminatory ban on blood donation by gay and bisexual men.