Photo courtesy of City of Detroit

DETROIT –  A 30-year-old Columbia graduate and Michigan native has been appointed as the new executive director of the Detroit Department of Health & Wellness Promotion.

As executive director, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed will supervise the department and other health-related issues, as well as restructuring of the department, programs and public health services.

City health care services rejoined the Detroit health department last fall, two years after the department was dissolved due to complaints about bureaucracy.

El-Sayed studied biology and political science at the University of Michigan, where he gave the senior commencement address alongside President Bill Clinton. El-Sayed earned a medical degree and a doctorate in public health from Columbia University as a Soros Fellow. He holds a DPhil in Population Health from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar.

El-Sayed is an internationally recognized expert in the social determinants of health, health disparities, preterm birth and infant mortality, and obesity.

“Dr. El-Sayed is a remarkably accomplished and talented public health administrator,” Mayor Mike Duggan said in a statement. “He will lead the restructuring of our health department to start addressing overall community health in a holistic way that hasn’t been done in the past. We’re excited to have him back in Detroit as part of a team that blends the very best of talent from Detroit and around the country.”

El-Sayed has worked as a professor in the Department of Epidemiology at Columbia University, where he was also director of the Columbia University Systems Science Program and Global Research Analytics for Population Health.

At the university, El-Sayed led a team of more than 20 researchers and managed a research budget of more than $1.2 million.“It’s an honor to come back home and serve the citizens of Detroit,” El-Sayed told The Detroit News. “I look forward to building on current efforts by the city around immunization, maternal-child health, and HIV/AIDS, as well as working with organizations like Think Detroit PAL that positively impact children’s health and well-being. Harnessing community goodwill is a critical component to addressing Detroit’s health disparities.”