Contributors
Keith Bagnall
Dr. Keith Bagnall was born in England where he received his formal education. His ambition as a teenager was to become a teacher and he obtained his B.Ed. from Nottingham University in 1971 followed by 3 years of teaching science in a Junior High/High School (equivalent) combined. He quickly realized that teaching did not offer him the challenges he was seeking and so returned to university where he obtained his M.Sc. and Ph.D. from Loughborough University. The topic for his thesis was the development of the vertebral column.
In 1975, before finishing his Ph.D., he was appointed as an assistant professor of anatomy (equivalent) at the Medical School in Manchester, England. In addition to teaching all aspects of anatomy, Dr. Bagnall continued his research interests in the area of musculoskeletal development.
In 1979, he was appointed as an assistant professor in the Department of Anatomy at the University of Alberta in Canada where he explored fetal movements using ultrasound, maternal exercise during pregnancy and extended his interest in the spine to embryological development. He was promoted to an Associate Professor in 1984 and to Professor in 1991.
During this time, Dr. Bagnall extended his interest in vertebral development to include the problems associated with scoliosis and focused his attention on developing an appropriate animal model to study the aetiology. This proved successful with a pinealectomised chicken model which is currently being used elsewhere with great success.
In all this time, Dr. Bagnall continued to teach all aspects of anatomy and specialized in developmental biology. He has taught many students across campus in all areas of anatomy and current teaching includes medical and dental students, pharmacy students, engineers, neuroscience students, physiology students and orthopaedic residents. Dr. Bagnall has been given several awards for teaching and has also been given several joint appointments (Surgery, Biomedical Engineering, Pharmacy, Perinatal Research Centre) to facilitate both teaching and research.
Currently, his primary appointment is in the Department of Surgery following a desire to have a new challenge and he is the President of the International Research Society for Spinal Deformities (IRSSD). His current research continues to be in the aetiology of scoliosis but also includes the development of new techniques to repair damaged articular cartilage using autologous chondrocytes as well as stem cells from marrow aspirates.
Dr. Bagnall's life-dream is still intact and he is eagerly awaiting an invitation to play for Manchester United soccer team while he is still in his prime.
