Dr. Brown is a Professor of Public Health and Health Economics at the University of California, Merced. He was the Founding Director of the Health Sciences Research Institute and the founding faculty member in Public Health at UC Merced. Prior to working at UC Merced, he held faculty positions at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, the University of Auckland (New Zealand) and the University of Massachusetts, Boston.

Dr. Brown's research focuses on health decision making, behavioral economics, and cost effectiveness analysis. He is Principle Investigator on UC Merced's Farmworker Health Study and the co-leader of the Rapid Response Core for UC Merced's Nicotine and Cannabis Policy Center. His research includes leading cost of illness and return on investment studies for local and state Public Health departments.

Dr. Brown received his BA from UC Santa Barbara and his PhD from the University of Wisconsin.