Dr. Kanal graduated cum laude from Yeshiva University in New York with a double major in Pre Medicine and Biology and a minor in Physics. He then graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine with membership in the Alpha Omega Alpha Medicine Honors Society, completed his internship in Internal Medicine and residency in Diagnostic Radiology at the University Health Center of Pittsburgh. Dr. Kanal completed his first fellowship in Magnetic Resonance Imaging and a second Fellowship in Neuroradiology at The Pittsburgh NMR Institute and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. He was the Medical Director of the Pittsburgh NMR Institute until its incorporation into the UPMC Health System when he became Director of MR Services in the Department of Radiology of the UPMC Health System, a position he maintains to date.

Dr. Kanal is a Founding Member, Board Member, Officer, and/or Member of numerous national and international professional societies, and serves as a consultant to the FDA on MR safety issues. He has chaired and/or served on MR safety committees for 25 years, was the chairman of the first national and international MR Safety committee, and is the Chair of the American College of Radiology Blue Ribbon Panel on MRI Safety and is the lead author of the American College of Radiology White Paper on MR Safety and its contained MR Safe Practice Guidelines and their recently published update.