Abdul El-Sayed wanted to be a pediatric neurosurgeon in sub-Saharan Africa, where access to surgeons is in short supply.

When he discovered social epidemiology, the study of why some populations suffer diseases more than others, he shifted his academic focus to health policy and science. That way, he could find out why people get sick and what we could do about it.

Although he earned his medical degree, El-Sayed became a tenure track professor in the department of epidemiology at Columbia University. But he found his work there too esoteric and conceptual.

“I am devoutly Muslim,” he said. “One of the verses of the Quran says, ‘He who saves a life, it’s as if he has saved all humanity.’ ” Knowing this, El-Sayed, who is from Detroit, said he wanted to use his public health knowledge to do more tangible work.

“I was sitting with a mentor of mine and told him about my change of heart and he asked what I wanted to do: I told him that I wanted to be health commissioner for Detroit. … I realized that it was how I wanted to spend my time — leveraging public health knowledge to drive better health for my city.”

That was summer 2015. As it turns out, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan was looking to recruit a new health director. The two connected, and two weeks later, El-Sayed had a complicated job with a whopping goal.

The Detroit Health Department was privatized in 2012 when the city was undergoing bankruptcy proceedings. El-Sayed has had to rebuild the department from a staff of 91 to just under 180, envision how it could reassume its responsibility for leadership on public health issues in Detroit, and take on the city’s goal of interrupting intergenerational poverty by focusing on issues including infant mortality, teen pregnancy, asthma, elderly isolation and health care access. The city has committed to a budget increase of $4 million in the next fiscal year and $9 million over the next two years for the department, he said.

Crain’s teamed with Crowdrise to help this year’s 40 Under 40 winners raise money for their favorite causes.

Abdul’s Charity of Choice:

Southeastern Michigan Health Association