Quentin Pittman obtained his BA at the University of Lethbridge and a Ph.D. (Medical Science) at the University of Calgary. This was followed by a Medical Research Council postdoctoral fellowship at McGill where he studied hypothalamic neurophysiology and a MRC Centennial Fellowship at the Behavioral Neurobiology laboratories at the Salk Institute where he worked on peptide neurotransmitters. In 1980, he returned to Calgary as an MRC Scholar in the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics (now Physiology and Pharmacology). He was promoted through the ranks, achieving full professorship in 1988. He has remained at the University of Calgary except for sabbatical periods at the University of Geneva and at INSERM in Bordeaux. During his entire academic career, he has been continuously supported by competitive salary awards from the MRC or the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR). He is currently a Medical Scientist of the AHFMR and Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. At the University of Calgary, Dr. Pittman has been Chairman of the Neuroscience Research Group, Assistant Dean (Medical Science) and Education Director of the Hotchkiss Brain Institute. He has been active in review bodies for many scientific agencies, including the MRC, CIHR, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, Human Science Frontiers Program and the NIH. He is on editorial boards of several scientific journals, was a reviewing (assoc) editor for J Neuroendocrinol, J Physiol, American J Physiol-Reg, Integ Comp Physiol and is currently assoc editor for Frontiers in Neuroendocrine Sciences and Brain Behavior & Immunity. He has been President of the Canadian Physiological Society, Councilor of the Canadian Association for Neuroscience, the International Neuroendocrine Federation and the International Union of Physiological Sciences and is currently Treasurer of the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO). Dr. Pittman has trained many scientists who have gone onto successful academic and industrial careers. Dr. Pittman has published nearly 300 peer-reviewed and invited articles and frequently speaks on his work that extends from cellular studies on peptide and other transmitters in brain slices to whole animal studies on the effects of early or chronic inflammation on the brain and its outputs.