Dr. Ronald Melzack revolutionized the study and treatment of pain; his avant-garde theories on pain mechanisms and control have had a significant impact on all areas of medicine related to patient suffering.
Born in Montreal, Melzack received a PhD in Psychology from McGill University in 1954.
In 1965, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), he developed, along with the neuropsychologist Patrick Wall, the gate control theory of pain, one of the most cited theories in neuroscientific studies.
This revolutionary theory is based on the premise that pain is a multidimensional subjective experience “modulated” by our past experiences and that it “is not in our nerves but in our heads.” Gate control theory of pain has led to the discovery of endorphins and enkephalines – opiates which are found naturally in the human body.
Melzack is the author of the renowned “McGill Pain Questionnaire.” Translated into more than 20 languages, it is the most widely used method in the world for measuring pain in clinical studies. Melzack is the founding editor of Wall & Melzack’s Textbook of Pain. He is also a founding member of the International Association for the Study of Pain.
The scientific research conducted by Melzack has demonstrated that human beings are born with a “genetically determined neural network that generates the perception of the body, the sense of self, and can also generate chronic pain, even when limbs show no signs of pain.”
Along with Dr. Joseph Stratford, Melzack founded the first pain treatment clinic at the Royal Victoria Hospital, and was the clinic’s Research Director from 1974 to 2000. He was also the co-founder of the first pain treatment clinic at Montreal’s Jewish General Hospital, in 1974. These two clinics, affiliated with McGill University’s Health Centre, have become among the best international pain treatment centres.
Melzack was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1982 and was the first recipient of the E.P. Taylor Chair in Pain Studies at McGill University. He has received many prestigious honours and distinctions, such as the Prix du Québec, the Order of Canada, the National Order of Quebec, and the Grawemeyer Award for his research in pain treatment. In 2009, he was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame.
Ronald Melzack is Professor Emeritus at McGill University.
