Science & invention
Alexa Canady
born 1950 · pediatric neurosurgeon
The first African American woman board-certified in neurosurgery in the United States, chief of neurosurgery at Children's Hospital of Michigan in Detroit from 1987 to 2001.
- Born
Lansing, Michigan
age 75- Birth name
- Alexa Irene Canady
- Detroit years
- 1980s–2001
- Field
- Science & invention
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Canady was born in Lansing in 1950, the daughter of a dentist and of an educator and civil rights leader, and studied at the University of Michigan, switching from mathematics to zoology and earning her medical degree there in 1975. She trained in neurosurgery at the University of Minnesota and became the first African American woman in the country to be board-certified in the field. She began her career in Detroit at Henry Ford Hospital and then joined Children's Hospital of Michigan, where in 1987 she was named chief of neurosurgery, a post she held until 2001. As a professor at Wayne State University she trained young neurosurgeons, and she co-developed a programmable antisiphon shunt for children with hydrocephalus, patented in 2000. After retiring from her Detroit post she moved to Pensacola, Florida.
Highlights
- First African American woman board-certified in neurosurgery in the U.S.
- Chief of neurosurgery at Children's Hospital of Michigan, 1987–2001
- Professor of neurosurgery at Wayne State University
- Co-developed a programmable antisiphon shunt for hydrocephalus (patented 2000)
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 1980s–2001
Children's Hospital of Michigan
She led the hospital's neurosurgery service from 1987 until her retirement in 2001.
Worked here · early 1980s
Henry Ford Hospital
Where she began her professional career before moving to Children's Hospital.