About Christian

Christian is executive director of the Peggy Lillis Foundation for C. diff Education & Awareness (PLF), the leading national nonprofit dedicated to building a nationwide Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) awareness movement by educating the public, empowering advocates and shaping policy. Christian and his brother, Liam, founded PLF in response to the April 2010 death of their mother Margaret “Peggy” Lillis, a 56-year-old Brooklyn kindergarten teacher, from a community-acquired CDI.

As head of PLF, Christian has led eight national convenings of C. diff Advocates, built a 40-person volunteer Advocates Council, coordinated the first-ever C. diff Lobby Day on Capitol Hill, led the development of care and nutrition guides for C. diff sufferers and survivors, and produced the first-ever public service announcement on C. diff infections. He has presented to state hospital associations, quality improvement organizations, healthcare systems and industry leaders, including Mount Sinai Health, National Quality Forum, and the Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria. Christian has also testified at Congressional briefings.

Christian’s writing has appeared in the Baltimore Sun, Cleveland Plain Dealer, and the CDC’s Safer Healthcare Blog. He has also co-authored articles for journals including Advances in Therapy and American Journal of Gastroenterology. PLF’s work has been featured in Consumer Reports, USA Today, and Reuters. Peggy’s story was also featured Dr. Martin Blaser’s 2014 book, Missing Microbes: How the Overuse of Antibiotics Is Fueling Our Modern Plagues.

In 2013, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recognized PLF’s work with its Excellence in Partnership award for domestic advocates and organizations. 

Christian’s began his nonprofit career doing prospect research at Lambda Legal. Prior to co-founding the Peggy Lillis Foundation, he was already a national recognized expert in this field. From 2003 to 2005, Christian led prospect research efforts for the public phase of NYU Langone Medical Center’s $750 million campaign. As director of major gifts for the National LGBTQ Task Force, he built the organization’s prospect research efforts while managing the organization's Leadership Council major donor program. Christian was then at In The Life Media, producer of the Emmy-Award winning public television series "In The Life." At ITLM, Christian led diversified philanthropic program, including securing the organization's largest foundation grants as well as conceiving and planning its inaugural Season Premiere Gala. Most recently, Christian served as managing director for prospect research & strategy at Teach For America, where his team provided research, training and strategic support for TFA’s national and regional fundraising teams.

As a consultant, Christian was worked with an array of healthcare and advocacy organizations, including DKI Health, The Buckley School, Gilda’s Club, the New York Eye & Ear Infirmary, New Classrooms, the Brennan Center for Justice, Seres Therapeutics, and St. Luke’s School. See “Consulting” for more.

Christian is a past board member of the Greater New York Chapter of the Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement and the City University of New York’s Center for LGBTQ Studies.

A native of Brooklyn, New York, he lives in its Kensington neighborhood with his husband and their “beagle baby” Maggie Anne. His hobbies include poetry writing, running, kickboxing (he is a black belt in tae kwon do), stand up comedy and being a comic book nerd.