At a time when public health department budgets are being cut and their authority is being challenged the City of Dearborn, Michigan is taking a different path and investing in the expansion of public health in the region with a new public health department. The city leadership sees public health as essential for each Dearborn resident to thrive and ensure that no one is disadvantaged due to social position or other socially determined circumstances.

In this episode we’re joined by Ali Abazeed, Director and Sara Elhasan, Public Health Advisor with the Dearborn Department of Public Health. We initially met Ali and Sara as part of the Communities in Context initiative in Detroit, Michigan and wanted to learn more about their community’s unique story.

Ali Abazeed is the inaugural director of the newly launched Dearborn Department of Public Health. A Dearborn native, he recently moved back home from Washington D.C. where he served as a Public Health Advisor at the National Institutes of Health. He joined public service as a Presidential Management Fellow and has worked across the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the Office of the Secretary, Office of Refugee Resettlement, and the Assistant Secretary for Policy and Evaluation. He has led a health and social policy portfolio ranging from homelessness eradication, the health of rural and tribal America, cancer prevention and control, and mitigating the effects of the global refugee crisis.

Prior to joining the federal government, Ali served as an advisor at the Detroit Health Department where he bolstered efforts to reverse water shutoffs and revitalize human services following the city’s bankruptcy. He developed robust comparative perspectives working on maternal and child health with the United Nations in the refugee camps of Lebanon. Ali is a three-time graduate of the University of Michigan, holding a MPH, MPP, and a BS. Most importantly, Ali is a proud graduate of Fordson High School.

Sara Elhasan is the public health advisor for the City of Dearborn’s Department of Public Health. A lifelong resident of Dearborn, she graduated from Fordson High School and went on to complete her BS in Public Health and BA in Sociology at Wayne State University. She later earned an MPH in Epidemiology from the University of Michigan.

Prior to this role, Sara was a Data & Policy Fellow with the University of Michigan’s Youth Policy Lab, where she implemented research and data-informed policies and program improvements for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. She has also been an ORISE Fellow with the Centers for Disease Control, served as a legislative intern at the Michigan House of Representatives, and trained with the National Institutes of Health.

Sara is passionate about giving back to her community and working to correct how sociocultural, political, and economic circumstances influence health and well-being. Outside of work, you can find Sara spending time with her family, traveling, or attending a concert!

Explore Resources:

Dearborn Public Health

Communities in Context

Vital Conditions for Well-Being -- Dearborn (select Dearborn in geography dropdown)

First Person: Dearborn’s Devastating Flood Exposes Mistrust, Deep Divides (July 2021)

Protecting Public Health Author