Jerry Vriend earned a B.S. in Biology from the Calvin University in 1969, an M.Sc. in Zoology from the University of Alberta in 1972, and a Ph.D. in Anatomy from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, Texas in 1978. He did a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the University of Rochester Health Science Center. He joined the Department of Human Anatomy and Cell Science, University of Manitoba, in 1981. He was promoted to associate professor in 1986 and to professor in 1994. What’s more, he received the Merit Award for Teaching from the Faculty of Medicine and the Award for Teaching Excellence, 4th year, from Medicine University of Manitoba Teaching Services in 2008. His research interests include signal transduction pathways involved in the cellular response to melatonin, the interaction of melatonin with the ubiquitin-proteasome system, and the role of the ubiquitin-proteasome in cancer.