Alexa Irene Canady

What they did

Canady completed her neurosurgical residency at the University of Minnesota in 1981 and built a career in paediatric neurosurgery, later serving as chief of neurosurgery at the Children's Hospital of Michigan.

Historical context

Neurosurgery was, and largely remains, one of the least diverse fields in medicine.

Obstacles

She has described a hospital administrator greeting her arrival with the words 'you must be the new equal-opportunity package'.

The legacy

Her clinical work on shunts and paediatric brain injury, and her mentorship, opened a specialty that had effectively been closed.

The evidence