Dr. Kelly McNagny obtained his Ph.D. in cellular immunology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1990. There, he worked with Dr. Max D. Cooper from Howard Hughes Medical Institute at National Academy of Sciences. His research focused on cell surface proteins that regulate B cell maturation and homing. 

He then moved to the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany where he performed his postdoctoral studies in the lab of Dr. Thomas Graf from 1991 to 1996. McNagny’s work focused on transcriptional control of hematopoietic stem cell maturation and cell fate. He performed some of the first studies to identify transcription factors that regulate the gene expression and differentiation of eosinophils, which are known to play a major role in allergic and asthmatic responses. Additionally, he identified a number of novel hematopoietic stem cell surface proteins (the CD34 family) and began analyzing their function. 

He continued his studies at the EMBL as a semi-independent visiting scientist from 1996 to 1998 prior to starting his own laboratory at The University of British Columbia’s Biomedical Research Centre. He is currently a full professor in medical genetics at the Biomedical Research Centre where his work focuses on stem cell behavior, inflammatory disease, cancer biology and therapeutics.

Dr. McNagny is a member of the Canadian Stem Cell Network Centre of Excellence, associate director of the AllerGen Network Centre of Excellence and co-director of AllerGen’s Biomarkers and Bioinformatics Platform.