Content created by Assistant Secretary for Health (ASH)
Adrian Shanker
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health Policy and Senior Advisor on LGBTQI+ Health Equity
Adrian Shanker (he/him) is Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health Policy in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) and the HHS Senior Advisor on LGBTQI+ Health Equity. As Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health Policy he leads the OASH Office of Policy and Legislation and coordinates policy and legislative strategy on OASH priorities. As HHS Senior Advisor on LGBTQI+ Health Equity, Adrian leads the LGBTQI+ policy portfolio for the department and coordinates the HHS LGBTQI+ Policy Coordinating Committee.
Before joining the Biden-Harris administration, Adrian led LGBTQI+ community centers in Allentown, Pennsylvania and Marin County, California and served as commissioner on the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, the state civil rights enforcement agency, a post he was appointed to by Governor Tom Wolf and confirmed by the Pennsylvania State Senate. He also previously served as a member of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS.
Adrian earned his B.A., cum laude, in political science and religion studies from Muhlenberg College and earned a graduate certificate in LGBT health policy and practice from The George Washington University. Adrian has published numerous articles and has edited two anthologies on LGBTQI+ health policy--Bodies and Barriers: Queer Activists on Health and Crisis and Care: Queer Activist Responses to a Global Pandemic.