In celebration of Black History Month 2023, the ISA honors our physicians who have made or are setting out to make outstanding contributions to the field of anesthesiology.

Nakia Hunter, MD

Dr. Nakia Hunter was born and raised in Southfield, Michigan. As the oldest of three children, she quickly discovered that she was a natural leader and that medicine was her true calling. Dr. Hunter completed her undergraduate education at the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, MI, where she obtained a Bachelor of Science in Biology.

During her undergraduate career, Dr. Hunter was an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, INC and also dedicated much of her time to dancing on a professional performance-based hip-hop team. In 2014, she earned her Doctorate of Medicine from Michigan State University’s College of Human Medicine. Dr. Hunter completed her anesthesiology residency at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio. She then went on to complete a fellowship in obstetric anesthesia at Prentice Women’s Hospital at Northwestern Medical Center. Dr. Hunter was formerly the co-director of obstetric anesthesiology at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, IL and MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn, IL.

Dr. Hunter currently practices general anesthesiology at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UI Health), where she serves as the fellowship director for obstetric anesthesiology. Her professional interests include simulation-based resident education, quality improvement, and legislation.

William A. McDade, MD, PhD

ISA’s DEI committee member, William McDade, MD, PhD, is the Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer of the ACGME and an active member of ISA. Read his poignant article, “Physician Workforce Diversity Matters”, in the February 2023 ASA Monitor about the importance of diversity among the physician workforce.

Dr. McDade was previously featured in the BHM Spotlight series in February 2021, which can be found using this link.

To view the anesthesiologists profiled in honor of Black History Month in 2022, click here.