Ross E. Petty

In 2006, he was appointed a member of the Order of Canada for his contribution within Canada and around the world to improving the lives of children and youth with rheumatic diseases. In 2012, he was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal.

Early life and education

Petty was born in Bresaylor, Saskatchewan, and grew up in Paynton, Saskatchewan. He graduated from the College of Medicine of the University of Saskatchewan in 196. After finishing his medical internship in Saskatoon, Petty moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he completed his rheumatology training under the mentorship of Drs. Jim Cassidy and Donita Sullivan at the University of Michigan.

Career In 1976, Petty returned to Canada and established the first formal pediatric rheumatology program at the University of Manitoba. In 1979, he started a similar program at the University of British Columbia. Along with Alan Rosenberg, he described the syndrome of seronegativity, enthesitis and arthritis (SEA syndrome), its relationship to HLA-B27, and the development of ankylosing spondylitis. These findings are now included in the juvenile idiopathic arthritis classification, proposed by the International League of Associations for Rheumatology.

Petty has contributed more than 225 original research papers and book chapters in medical and scientific journals. He has co-authored every edition of the Textbook of Pediatric Rheumatology, a pediatric rheumatology reference book. Petty chaired the International League of Associations for Rheumatology working group to define a new classification system and nomenclature for juvenile idiopathic arthritis and its subtypes. Masters Award from the American College of Rheumatology (2008) Recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal (2012) Creation of Canada’s first Paediatric Arthritis Chair in Petty’s name (2017) Honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of Saskatchewan (2018)

Selected works