Leadership: Dr. Peggy P. McNaull, MD

Peggy P. McNaull, MD,
Frederic A. Berry Professor and Chair of the UVA Department of Anesthesiology, and Professor of Pediatrics

Peggy P. McNaull, MD, is the Frederic A. Berry Professor Professor and Chair of the University of Virginia (UVA) Department of Anesthesiology and Professor of Pediatrics. Dr. McNaull is committed to embracing the department’s history of excellence to provide anesthesiology services across multiple sites, train the next generation of anesthesiologists, and develop anesthesiology research programs, while exploring new opportunities to innovate and advance the department in response to the ever changing healthcare environment.

Dr. McNaull started her career in healthcare as a nurse. After completing her BS at Georgia Baptist College of Nursing in Atlanta, she practiced as an RN in Neonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care Units. She continued to serve as an RN in the NICUs in multiple hospitals while earning her MD at Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans. She completed her Anesthesiology residency at the University of North Carolina where she was Chief Resident. She also completed her Pediatric Anesthesiology fellowship at UNC before entering the Pediatric Cardiovascular Anesthesiology fellowship program at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston.

From 2009 until 2018, Dr. McNaull served as UNC Department of Anesthesiology’s Division Chief for Pediatric Anesthesiology. She fostered the development of preeminent programs in pediatric anesthesia care including the only anesthesia-managed Pediatric Pain and Sedation Service in the state of North Carolina. In 2014, Dr. McNaull was appointed as her department’s first Vice Chair for Patient Safety and Quality Improvement. In this role, Dr McNaull advanced the efficiency and quality of care across the department and UNC’s operating rooms in many ways, including opioid stewardship, and enhanced recovery after surgery programs. In 2018, Dr. McNaull was appointed the Associate Chief Medical Officer for Quality and Safety for UNC Hospitals’ main campus in Chapel Hill. In addition to leading the quality and safety programs there, she was integral in spreading some of the flagship programs she led across the state through UNC Health’s system-wide care redesign effort.

Dr. McNaull has a national reputation in pediatric anesthesiology. She is a member of the Board of Directors for the Society for Pediatric Anesthesiology and currently serves as the society’s Secretary and Treasurer. She recently Co-Chaired a task force charged with re-envisioning the future of the Pediatric Anesthesiology ACGME program. Additionally, Dr. McNaull is very involved in the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA). She serves as an Applied Examiner and regularly delivers standard oral examinations to examinees in the ABA certification process. She has participated in written exam development since 2009 as a question writer and editor. Dr. McNaull was recently promoted by the board of directors to serve on the Advanced Exam Committee.