I question the policies, assumptions, and failures that undermine our approach to science and technology, interrogate the lessons of the geopolitical past, and attempt to shape our understanding of the technological future.
I pride myself on a strong generalist skillset built over nearly a decade of startup work and specialist expertise in a few domains (namely: neuroscience, atmospheric science, AI, security).
I got my start in tech entrepreneurship, working in product and design strategy for innovations serving scientists, doctors, brands, and consumers. A lifelong fascination for the human-machine interface took me to HCI labs at Harvard SEAS and Penn Engineering, where I coded various tools for visualizing complex maths and population-level health patterns. I brought this ethos to Renaissance Philanthropy, which builds philanthropic funds in science and technology. At Renaissance, I start and advance new funds & translational research programs across science and climate, focusing primarily on new approaches to biomedicine, climate interventions, and policy. I’m especially keen on accelerating treatments for diseases, particularly neurodegenerative ones, by funding new models of science.
I’m also a proud Bukharian Jew and first-generation American. My parents immigrated to the United States from the Soviet Union in 1990. My grandparents were career musicians and pedagogs. I’ve picked up several over the years; I’m currently learning duduk, but my favorite has been the cello. In my spare time, I practice Persian and Uzbek, engage in amateur bookbinding and calligraphy, travel, photograph my friends, make bad aphex twin-inspired electronica, read, and learn.
My favorite trip was to Japan in the Summer of 2024, where I made a photo book on the interface (and tension) between tradition & modernity in Japanese urban space. I hope one day to visit Uzbekistan, where my family is from; I’ve been cooking the national dish since I was tall enough to reach the stove.