JD was born in Quebec City, Canada, where he spent all of his childhood and received most of his education. He earned a bachelor's degree in Chemistry from the Université Laval in 2013, after which he enrolled in the graduate program under the supervision of Prof. Jean-François Paquin. As a trainee, he studied the reactivity of allylic and propargylic fluorides, and he was the recipient of numerous awards that culminated in a prestigious Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship. Later, with financial support from the FRQNT, he undertook a postdoctoral fellowship at UC Berkeley. In January 2021, Jean-Denys began his independent career as Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Lethbridge. Later that year, he was appointed Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Organofluorine Chemistry and Catalysis.​​