Dr Jacques Bradwejn trained in medicine at the University of Sherbrooke and in psychiatry at McGill University. He completed a research fellowship in psychopharmacology at McGill University and in neuropsychopharmacology at the University of Montreal. He is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and a diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry.
He has served as dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa from 2006 to 2017, as chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Ottawa, as Psychiatrist-in-Chief at the Royal Ottawa Hospital and as head of Psychiatry of The Ottawa Hospital—positions he held concurrently for more than eight years.
His main research interest has been in the field of anxiety and mood disorders, for which he gained an international reputation. He was the first to hypothesize that the neuropeptide cholecystokinin (CCK) has a role in the etiology of panic attacks in humans. He also carries out research on the integration of biological, psychological, and spiritual approaches in the treatment of anxiety disorders, as well as on approaches used by complementary medicines. He participated in the creation of a provincial association for anxiety disorders (Association Trouble Anxieux Quebec, ATAQ), as well as a national network for anxiety and mood disorders (Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments, CANMAT). He has also been a lead for anxiety treatment guidelines for Ontario. He has been active in the public dissemination of information on anxiety disorders and has made more than 400 educational media appearances.
He is a visiting professor at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine and a founding dean of the Ottawa Shanghai Joint School of Medicine at Renji Hospital in Shanghai, which was created jointly by the University of Ottawa and the Shanghai Jiao Tong University and is the first initiative to introduce a Western medical curriculum in China. Most of the time, Dr Bradwejn continues to practice psychiatry and be involved in clinical research and leadership development in Canada and abroad, as well as the development of open-access, free psychological online health programs such as the Intrinsic Practice (intrinsicpractice.com).