Dr. Louis Bessette graduated from medical school and completed his residency in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology at Laval University. He trained as a fellow in clinical research at the Multipurpose Arthritis Center, Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and received a master’s degree in epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health.

He is a clinical researcher at the Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec-Laval University, assistant professor at Laval University’s School of Medicine. Since 2014, he has been Chief of the Rheumatology Department at the CHU de Québec-Laval University. His main research interests are rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis, as well as the quality of life aspects and pharmacoeconomic studies related to these diseases.

Dr. Bessette is the principal investigator of the CATCH study in Quebec City (Canadian Early Arthritis Cohort Study). CATCH is a Canadian multicentre research program that aims at improving the quality of care for people with early inflammatory arthritis. Over 2,000 people are participating in our investigator-initiated research program across Canada (100 subjects in Quebec City). This is the only Canada-wide early arthritis cohort that follows people with new onset inflammatory or rheumatoid arthritis over time to examine the course of their disease and their response to the treatments provided by their healthcare team.

He is co-investigator of the Group for Early Arthritis Research (GEAR). GEAR is a multidisciplinary team of the CHU de Québec-Laval University composed of clinicians and clinical researchers in the field of rheumatology. A model for an early arthritis clinic was put in place in 2014 to give better and earlier access to patients who suffer from rheumatic conditions. Other objectives are to collect clinical data and bio specimens on patients with early arthritis to better understand disease progression and its complications. Collecting these data and bio specimens will provide information on the population in the CHU de Québec-Laval University catchment area, and allow to elaborate strategies to improve patient care and prevent comorbid conditions in patients with early arthritis.

Dr. Bessette is co-director for the CaMOS Quebec City Centre, a large Canadian epidemiologic study in osteoporosis. He is also co-investigator of the Recognizing Osteoporosis and its Consequences in Quebec (ROCQ) Programme, a patient health-management programme aimed at evaluating the diagnostic and treatment care gaps for osteoporosis following a fragility fracture in women aged 50 years and over.

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Moura CS, Rahme E, Maksymowych WP, Abrahamowicz M, Bessette L, Bernatsky S

Use of disease-modifying anti-rheumatic or anti-tumour necrosis factor drugs and risk of hospitalized infection in ankylosing spondylitis.

Journal Article

Scand J Rheumatol, 48 (2), pp. 121-127, 2019, ISSN: 0300-9742.

Abstract | Links:

Bessette L, Haraoui B, Chow A, Fortin I, Dixit S, Khraishi M, Haaland D, Elmoufti S, Staelens F, Bogatyreva I, Syrotuik J, Shaikh S

Effectiveness and safety of certolizumab pegol in rheumatoid arthritis patients in Canadian practice: 2-year results from the observational FαsT-CAN study.

Journal Article

Ther Adv Musculoskelet Dis, 11 , pp. 1759720X19831151, 2019, ISSN: 1759-720X.

Abstract | Links:

Nadon V, Molto A, Etcheto A, Bessette L, Michou L, D'Agostino MA, Claudepierre P, Wendling D, Haraoui P, Dougados M

Clinical peripheral enthesitis in the DESIR prospective longitudinal axial spondyloarthritis cohort.

Journal Article

Clin Exp Rheumatol, 2018, ISSN: 0392-856X.

Abstract | Links:

Beaudoin C, Jean S, Moore L, Gamache P, Bessette L, Ste-Marie LG, Brown JP

Number, Location, and Time Since Prior Fracture as Predictors of Future Fracture in the Elderly From the General Population.

Journal Article

J Bone Miner Res, 33 (11), pp. 1956-1966, 2018, ISSN: 0884-0431.

Abstract | Links:

Burmester GR, Kremer JM, Van den Bosch F, Kivitz A, Bessette L, Li Y, Zhou Y, Othman AA, Pangan AL, Camp HS

Safety and efficacy of upadacitinib in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and inadequate response to conventional synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (SELECT-NEXT): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 trial.

Journal Article

Lancet, 391 (10139), pp. 2503-2512, 2018, ISSN: 0140-6736.

Abstract | Links:

Barber CEH, Schieir O, Lacaille D, Marshall DA, Barnabe C, Hazlewood G, Thorne C, Ahluwalia V, Bartlett SJ, Boire G, Haraoui B, Hitchon CA, Keystone E, Tin D, Pope J, Denning L, Bykerk V, CATCH Investigators

High Adherence to System-Level Performance Measures for Rheumatoid Arthritis in a National Early Arthritis Cohort Over Eight Years.

Journal Article

Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken), 70 (6), pp. 842-850, 2018.

Abstract | Links:

Bessette L, Lebovic G, Millson B, Charland K, Donepudi K, Gaetano T, Remple V, Latour MG, Gazel S, Laliberte MC, Thorne C

Impact of the Adalimumab Patient Support Program on Clinical Outcomes in Ankylosing Spondylitis: Results from the COMPANION Study.

Journal Article

Rheumatol Ther, 5 (1), pp. 75-85, 2018, ISSN: 2198-6576.

Abstract | Links:

Marshall JK, Bessette L, Shear NH, Lebovic G, Glass J, Millson B, Gaetano T, Gazel S, Latour MG, Laliberte MC, Thorne JC

Canada's Study of Adherence Outcomes in Patients Receiving Adalimumab: 3-year Results From the COMPANION Study.

Journal Article

Clin Ther, 40 (6), pp. 1024-1032, 2018, ISSN: 0149-2918.

Abstract | Links:

Lentle BC, Berger C, Probyn L, Brown JP, Langsetmo L, Fine B, Lian K, Shergill AK, Trollip J, Jackson S, Leslie WD, Prior JC, Kaiser SM, Hanley DA, Adachi JD, Towheed T, Davison KS, Cheung AM, Goltzman D, CaMos Research Group

Comparative Analysis of the Radiology of Osteoporotic Vertebral Fractures in Women and Men: Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Observations from the Canadian Multicentre Osteoporosis Study (CaMos).

Journal Article

J Bone Miner Res, 33 (4), pp. 569-579, 2018, ISSN: 0884-0431.

Abstract | Links:

Nguyen P, Julien AS, Bessette L, Fortin PR, Michou L

Sharing Ongoing Care with Primary Care Physicians Opens Up Opportunity for Timelier and Earlier Care by Rheumatologists for Patients with New Inflammatory Polyarthritis.

Journal Article

J Rheumatol, 45 (2), pp. 266-273, 2018, ISSN: 0315-162X.

Abstract | Links:

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Active projects

  • Canadian Network for Advanced interdisciplinary Methods for Prospective Studies of Drug Safety and Effectiveness., Subvention, Instituts de recherche en santé du Canada, Subvention d'équipe : Centre de collaboration pour les études prospectives du RIEM, from 2014-09-01 to 2019-08-31
  • Centre de recherche en arthrite de l'Université Laval, Subvention, Institutionnel - BDR, BDR - Entités de recherche en émergence, from 2019-01-01 to 2020-01-31
  • Centre hospitalier universitaire de Québec - Université Laval, Subvention, Centre hospitalier universitaire de Québec - Université Laval, Centres de recherche affiliés, from 2017-01-01 to 2099-12-31

Recently finished projects

  • Programme d'entraînement supervisé pour les patients atteints de polyarthrite rhumatoïde, Subvention, Fondation du CHU de Québec, from 2017-03-01 to 2018-03-31
  • Rheumatic Disease Unit Grant, Subvention, La société d'arthrite, Subvention de recherche / Research Operating Grant, from 1996-07-01 to 2017-06-30
  • Soutien du programme de recherche en rhumatologie, Subvention, Fondation du CHU de Québec, from 2017-03-31 to 2018-03-31
Data provided by the Université Laval research projects registery