Christina Costa takes a picture with her neurosurgeon, Dr. Wajd Al-Holou ahead of her surgery in September 2020. We found a mass in your brain,’” Costa recalls them telling her. She said her neurosurgeon, U-M alumnus Dr. Wajd Al-Holou, left an immediate impression on her. She began selling T-shirts on Instagram at the end of 2020 with a plan to surprise Dr. Al-Holou in January with the funds. “It was so incredible.”AdAfter raising $40,000 on her own, the donor matched each dollar raised and she presented Dr. Al-Holou with a gift of just over $81,000 in January.

DETROIT – One local doctor is making history in the Motor City by becoming the first Black woman to lead the neurosurgery department with the Detroit Medical Center. Dr. Sonia Eden works at the DMC Harper University Hospital, and has accomplished several firsts in the medical field in the Detroit area. “I have come to Detroit to invest in the city that invested heavily in me,” Dr. Eden said. After working in a private practice in Kalamazoo for the last 12 years, Dr. Eden says it feels good to be back home in Detroit. Still, the Detroit doctor wants her role at the hospital to go beyond that milestone.