Throughout the last 15 years Dr Bernier has conducted studies in clinical research, testing novel treatments for solid malignancies, with a particular interest in patients with head and neck, lung, and breast cancers. He has been the Chairman of the Radio-Oncology Division of the Oncology Institute of Southern Switzerland, in Bellinzona since 1988.

A member of various scientific societies in Europe and U.S, he is currently the Chairman of the Head and Neck Group of the EORTC (European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer, Brussels, Belgium), Chairman of the European InterGroup of Head and Neck Oncology, President of the Foundation for the Advancement of Radiation Oncology (FARO Foundation) in Geneva, and Member of the Scientific Committee of the Umberto Veronesi Foundation, in Milano. Since 2000, he is the President of the Tessin League against Cancer and over the last two years, member of the Foundation TERA for proton-therapy, Novara, Italy.

Jacques Bernier is an Editorial Board member of various peer-reviewed journals, including the International Journal of Radiation Biology and Physics. He has published more than 200 articles, editorials, and abstracts in scientific journals as well as a number of book chapters.