10/22/2026
With just a few weeks away, we're delighted to welcome Ali Abazeed, MPH, MPP, the Chief Public Health Officer & Director of the Detroit Health Department. He will be joining our in-person attendees on Friday to deliver our opening remarks, reflecting on the work being done in Detroit to promote adolescent health!
Appointed by Mayor Mary Sheffield, Abazeed leads a department of more than 280 public health professionals and oversees a nearly $60 million budget, advancing a Health in All Policies approach that embeds health across city government and centers the needs of Detroit residents.
Born in Detroit and raised in Dearborn along the Tireman border, Abazeed’s work is shaped by a lived understanding that place matters. He believes health outcomes are not inevitable. They are shaped by policy, investment, environment, and whether public institutions are willing to act.
Before returning to Detroit, Abazeed served as the founding Director and Chief Public Health Officer of the Dearborn Department of Public Health, where he built one of Michigan’s newest municipal health departments from the ground up. He previously served across the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as a Presidential Management Fellow and Public Health Advisor at the National Institutes of Health.
He is also a faculty member at Wayne State University, where he teaches Health in All Policies and mentors emerging public health leaders. Abazeed holds graduate degrees in public health and public policy from the University of Michigan and completed executive education at Harvard Kennedy School.
We're so grateful to be partnering with the city of Detroit and the people who protect the health of its residents. For more information on the exciting things happening at the 2026 Conference, visit our Conference page below!
IMAGE DESCRIPTION:
2026 Conference on Adolescent Health. Ali Abazeed, MPH, MPP (he/him/his). Chief Public Health Officer & Director, Detroit Health Department. Special Guest. A photo of Abazeed smiling, wearing a blue blazer and a white shirt.
