Barbara Ansell

Who was Barbara Ansell?

Barbara Mary Ansell CBE, FRCP, FRCS was the founder of paediatric rheumatology.

Born in Warwick, Warwickshire, England, and educated at King's High School for Girls there, Ansell qualified at Birmingham in 1946 and did her post-graduate training at Hammersmith. In 1951 she was appointed as registrar to Professor Eric Bywaters at the Canadian Red Cross Memorial Hospital, Taplow, Buckinghamshire, where she did research on heart disease in rheumatic fever.

In 1962, she was appointed clinical physician in rheumatology at Taplow. Appointed head of Division of Rheumatology at the Clinical Research Centre at Northwick Park Hospital in 1976. Awarded a scholarship to study in Chicago at the Research and Education Hospital as a research fellow. Awarded the CBE in 1982. Recognised with a Visiting Professorship at Leeds in 1997.

Ansell was based at the Canadian Red Cross Memorial Hospital, specialising in the research and treatment of Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis. She developed a classification system for childhood arthritis. While focusing on treatment of the disease, she recognised the importance of maintaining educational and social skills in young patients.