Peter Schiller, professor emeritus at the IRCM, received the Career Medal of the Université de Montréal on December 9, for his 45 years of service as research professor at the IRCM. The Career Medal of the Faculty of Medicine recognizes the exceptional work of professors in support of the development and the sustainability of their discipline. Bearing the symbols of the Université de Montréal, the Career Medal therefore aims to highlight Peter Schiller’s invaluable contribution to the Institution.
Despite the unfavourable context for gatherings, the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine of Université de Montréal, Patrick Cossette, took advantage of the Faculty Assembly to announce the presentation of this distinction to Peter Schiller.
Peter Schiller has had an exceptional career which has contributed to the notoriety of the IRCM around the world. A chemist by training, Dr. Schiller has served since 1975 as Director of the Research Unit in Chemical Biology and Polypeptide Research at the IRCM, in addition to being a full-research professor of pharmacology at the Université de Montréal. During his career, he became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and Fellow of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists, as well as an officer of the Ordre national du Québec. He also held the Canadian Pacific Chair in Pain at the IRCM, and secured the support of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) for 43 years and of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for 30 years.
A Visiting Professor at various prestigious institutions such as the Bouvé College of Health Sciences at Northeastern University in Boston (United States), ETH Zurich, Nanyang Technological University (Singapore) and the National University of Singapore, Peter Schiller also assumed leadership roles in some of the most influential scientific organizations in his field of study, and served as an editorial board member for renowned scientific journals.
With more than 420 scientific articles and 17 patents to his credit, Dr. Schiller has become a pioneer in the clinical development of peptides. His work led to the discovery of important compounds that are used today as pharmacological tools around the world and as drug candidates in the pharmaceutical industry.
Congratulations to Peter Schiller for this well-deserved honour.
