Dr. Russyan (“Russian”) Mark Mabeza grew up in the Philippines and was a Gates Millennium Scholar at Brown University, where he graduated with honors in Biology and a minor in Theater Arts and Performance Studies. He earned his MD and MPH as a David Geffen Scholar at UCLA, supported by a full merit-based scholarship, and is now a General Surgery resident at UCSF. Dr. Mabeza’s work explores how social and structural drivers shape surgical outcomes and seeks to develop community-engaged, justice-oriented interventions that advance equity in surgical care. His scholarship spans surgical outcomes research, transformation in medical education, and workforce diversity, with ongoing projects addressing barriers to early detection and follow-up of pancreatic and thoracic malignancies. Rooted in his lived experience, he is committed to advancing the antiracist transformation of medicine—centering justice, humility, and humanism in all he does. Beyond medicine (and perhaps more importantly), he is the husband of Aleyna and proud dog dad to Ally.
Research Interests: Examining structural inequities in surgical care, amplifying patient narratives, and designing justice-oriented, community-informed interventions to advance equity and inclusion across surgical systems.