Jean-Pierre Pelletier received his M.D. from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Montreal in Quebec in 1974. He completed his residencies in internal medicine and rheumatology at Hôtel-Dieu Hospital, the University of Montreal, and Montreal General Hospital at McGill University (1974-1979), followed by two years as a research fellow in rheumatology at the University of Miami. He joined the University of Montreal as Assistant Professor in 1981 and became a full Professor in 1992. He is the Head of the Arthritis Division, and the Director of the Osteoarthritis Research Unit and the Musculoskeletal Diseases Program at the University of Montreal Hospital Research Center (CHUM).
Professor Jean-Pierre Pelletier is a prolific author, with 249 over 300 peer-reviewed papers, 29 books or book chapters, 37 reviews or editorials and 532 abstracts, in addition to 242 invited lectures.
Professor Jean-Pierre Pelletier received several awards and prizes including: Rheumatology Prize of the International League of Associations for Rheumatology (ILAR), Distinguished Investigator Award of the Canadian Rheumatology Association, Personality of the Week of La Presse, Montreal in 2000, Scientific Award for Basic Research in Osteoarthritis from the European League Against Rheumatism, Leadership and Distinction in the Medical Field Award from the University of Montreal Hospital Center Foundation, and the International Carol-Nachman Award for Rheumatology.
He is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Sciences, founding member of the Global Arthritis Research Network, former President of the Osteoarthritis Research Society International, Chairman of the RDU Council of the Arthritis Society, and President of the Examination Committee (Rheumatology) of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. He is also an editor of the International Journal of Rheumatology, associate/guest editor of Osteoarthritis and Cartilage, section editor of Current Opinions in Rheumatology and Modern Therapeutics in Rheumatic Diseases, a member of the advisory committee of the Japanese Journal of Rheumatology and editorial committee of La Clinician and editor of the book Osteoarthritis: Clinical and Experimental Aspects..
This biography was written in the year the prize was awarded.