The grandson of Mississippi Delta sharecroppers and preachers, he honed his passion for advancing racial and health equity at an early age. An expert on the impact of historical trauma on community health, Brown was the co-founder of the lead poisoning awareness initiative #BmoreLEADfree and formerly served as an associate professor and population health researcher at the School of Community Health and Policy at Morgan State University. In 2018, he was honored by the Open Society Institute-Baltimore with the Bold Thinker award for his advocacy and contribution to the discourse regarding racial segregation in the city.

Brown earned his doctorate in health outcomes and policy research from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, his master’s degree in public administration from the University of Houston, and his bachelor’s degree in African American studies from Morehouse College. From 2010 to 2012, Brown was a postdoctoral research fellow in the W.K. Kellogg Health Scholars Program at Morgan State University School of Community Health and Policy.