Mary-Ann Fitzcharles has worked as a clinician, teacher and clinical researcher at McGill University, Montreal Canada since 1982. She completed her medical training at University of Cape Town, South Africa, and further specialized as a rheumatologist at the London Hospital, Whitechapel, England. Her career interest has been focused towards the clinical context of pain in the rheumatic diseases, beginning with early work in fibromyalgia syndrome. She has served as the Co-Chair of the American College of Rheumatology Pain and Fibromyalgia abstract committee; is a member of American College of Rheumatology committee for updated criteria for fibromyalgia; founder member of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada specialty committee for Pain Medicine; member of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada examination committee for Pain Medicine and chair of the Canadian Rheumatology Association Therapeutics committee. She is the lead for the 2012 Canadian guidelines for the management of fibromyalgia. Recent work has been focused towards pain management in the rheumatic diseases with publications addressing use of opioids and cannabinoids in rheumatology patients.