PROFESSSOR JEAN-PIERRE PELLETIER, M.D. is Professor of Medicine, Accredited Member of the Department of Pharmacology, Director and Co-founder of the Osteoarthritis Research Unit at the University of Montreal Hospital Centre (CHUM). The Osteoarthritis Research Unit is one of the most highly renowned and respected facilities of its kind. He is also co-titular head of the Chair in Osteoarthritis at the University of Montreal.Professor Pelletier is an internationally renowned and respected expert in the field of osteoarthritis. His principal research interest lies in understanding the mechanisms involved in the pathophysiology of osteoarthritis in humans and preclinical models, as well as in investigating and developing new therapeutic strategies to counteract the disease through basic and clinical research. He also developed, with his team, new automated magnetic resonance imaging systems for the quantification of knee and hip structural alterations in humans and animals and uses these methodologies in clinical trials. His work in the field of arthritis research has led to a large number of landmark studies and in turn to major breakthroughs and discoveries with regard to the pathophysiology and treatment of musculoskeletal diseases.Winner of several international and national awards and prizes including the Roger Demers award in 2012 and the prestigious King Faisal International Prize for Medicine in 2010. He was inducted as a “Master” of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) in 2014 and appointed “fellow” by the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS) in 2008. The success of his work is also illustrated by the impressive number of publications, over 485, and abstracts (more than 870) in world-renowned, peer-reviewed journals, and numerous guest speaker appearances.

Prof. Bernard Combe is Professor of Rheumatology at Montpellier University, France, and Head of the Bone and Joint Department at Montpellier University Hospital.
He completed his medical education at Montpellier University and was subsequently awarded a research fellowship in clinical immunology at the University of Texas, San Antonio, USA.
Prof. Combe was elected member of the National Board of Universities (Rheumatology) from 1994–2000 and again from 2006, as well as being president from 2010–2013. He is an active member of numerous EULAR and ACR task forces. Prof. Combe is Editor-in-Chief of RMD Open (EULAR / BMJ journal) and of La Lettre du Rhumatologue. In addition, he is a member of the editorial boards of Annals of Rheumatic Diseases, Arthritis and Rheumatism and Joint Bone Spine. Prof. Combe has co-authored more than 315 articles published in international
peer-reviewed journals, and has been a coordinator or main investigator in 131 clinical trials.

Prof. JOHANNE MARTEL-PELLETIER, Ph.D. is Professor of Medicine in the Department of Medicine and Accredited Member of the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Montreal. In 1981, she co-founded with Professor Jean-Pierre Pelletier, the Osteoarthritis Research Unit at the University of Montreal Hospital Centre, which today is world renowned for its research in the field. In 2000, they initiated a University Chair in Osteoarthritis at the University of Montreal and have been appointed titular heads of this Chair.Her research interests lie in the mechanisms involved in the etiology of osteoarthritis, such as joint tissue catabolism and cartilage repair, the molecular and biochemical mechanisms involved during the osteoarthritis process of certain proteases, pro- and anti-inflammatory factors, and growth factors in humans and targeting new therapeutic strategies for the treatment of osteoarthritis. In addition, she is involved in developing systems using magnetic resonance imaging technology for the automatic quantification of structural tissue changes in the human knee and hip.She is an active member of several editorial boards and committees and is a highly respected reviewer for numerous rheumatology and connective tissue journals and governmental and private research funding agencies at national and international levels. She has authored more than 410 publications including journal articles, reviews and book chapters and over 730 abstracts, as well as being guest editor of several journals and editor of four books. In addition, she has been an invited guest speaker at numerous national and international meetings and conferences. She is recipient of several distinguished scientific awards honouring her excellence and outstanding achievements in osteoarthritis research.

Prof. Boulos Haraoui, MD FRCPC is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the Université de Montréal and head of the Clinical Research Unit in Rheumatology at the Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM) and the Institut de rhumatologie de Montréal.
Dr Haraoui received his medical degree from St. Joseph University in Beirut, Lebanon. Following his post graduate training in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology at the University of Montreal, he completed a research Fellowship at the Arthritis Branch of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.
He is a founding member and vice-chairman of the Canadian Rheumatology Research Consortium (CRRC). He also chairs the Canadian Initiative in Outcomes in Rheumatology Care (CIORA), the research granting committee of the CRA
Doctor Haraoui is a Past-Chairman of the Scientific Committee of the Canadian Rheumatology Association.
He was an examiner for the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and a member of the Subspecialty Committee on Rheumatology of the RCPSC. He is also a past chairman of the Laurentian Conference of Rheumatology
Doctor Haraoui serves on several provincial, national and international educational and advisory committees, especially on issues pertaining to the diagnosis and management of rheumatoid arthritis.

Dr. Jordi Monfort Faure Graduated in Medicine at the Universitat Central de Barcelona, Specialty Registrar of Rheumatology, Parc de Salut Mar. Hospital del Mar Barcelona, Master in Biomedical Sciences, Université de Montréal, Profeciency University of McGill. Montreal, Master in hospital management International University of Catalonia, PhD, Universitat Autonòma de Barcelona 2010-2013
He is currently an Associated Professor of Rheumatology Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona