Angela Mailis Gagnon was born in Athens, Greece where she obtained her medical degree from Athens Medical School in 1976.

She received specialty training in the field of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in Toronto and became Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada in 1982.

She also obtained a Masters degree from the Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Canada in 1988.

In 1982, she founded the Comprehensive Pain Program of the Toronto Western Hospital in Toronto, Ontario, and since then she devoted her practice exclusively to Chronic Pain diagnosis and management.

Today, the Comprehensive Pain Program is a nationally known treatment centre for patients with intractable chronic pain, and a research centre for clinical studies.

Mailis Gagnon has been the Director of the program since its inception. She also holds the position of senior investigator with the Krembil Neuroscience Centre and the Toronto Western Research Institute, and is a full Professor in the Faculty of Medicine, Division of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Toronto.

She continues to be extensively involved not only in patient care and clinical practice but also in clinical research.