About Us

Mike Allan, MD CCFP

Director, Program and Practice Support, College of Family Physicians of Canada

Professor, Department of Family Medicine, University of Alberta

Mike has been in practice 20 years, given over 300 invited presentations and published over 100 articles. He is a Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Alberta and the Director of the Program and Practice Support at the College of Family Physicians.

Mike also participates in a weekly medical podcast on iTunes, roadshows, academic detailing visits, and writes Tools for Practice for the ACFP and the Canadian Family Physician journal.

Mike is happily married and has two teenaged daughters.

Tina Korownyk, MD CCFP

Director, Evidence and CPD Program, Alberta College of Family Physicians

Director, Primary Care Opioid Response Initiative

Associate Professor, Family Medicine, University of Alberta

Tina is an Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Alberta. She has worked as a Family Physician for the past 10 years, primarily in Edmonton at the Northeast Community Health Centre. Tina is actively involved in the development of Tools for Practice, CPD Roadshows, and academic detailing visits with the Evidence program.

She is also involved in graduate and undergraduate medical education at the University of Alberta. Her research interests include practical questions relating to the improvement of primary care.

Tina is married with four fantastic kids and enjoys most things outdoors.

Mike Kolber, BSC MD CCFP MSC

Professor, Family Medicine, University of Alberta

Assistant Director, Evidence and CPD Program, Alberta College of Family Physicians

Mike is an Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Alberta. He practices in Peace River, Alberta using his additional skills training in gastroenterology.

He contributes to Tools for Practice, medical podcasts, CPD Roadshows, and academic detailing within the province, and enjoys presenting at local, provincial, national, and international events.

Mike also chairs the Practical Evidence for Informed Practice and Endoscopy Skills Day for Practicing Endoscopists conferences.

He is passionate about sports, coaches lacrosse and hockey, and enjoys the outdoors with his wife and three great kids.

Scott Garrison, MD PHD

Associate Professor, Department of Family Medicine, University of Alberta

Director, Pragmatic Trials Collaborative

Scott spent the first 20 years of his professional career as a full time fee-for-service family physician. He has a passion for evidence-based medicine and left full time clinical practice in 2013 intent on pursuing clinical trials that address important, as yet unaddressed, primary care questions. He is working to build a platform for large primary care trials in both BC and Alberta.

Adrienne Lindblad, BSP ACPR PHARMD

Knowledge Translation and Evidence Coordinator, Alberta College of Family Physicians

Associate Clinical Professor, Department of Family Medicine, University of Alberta

Adrienne completed her pharmacy degree from the University of Saskatchewan, her hospital pharmacy residency in Halifax, and her Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Toronto. Throughout her career, she has been heavily involved in teaching and mentoring, and has received numerous awards for her work, including the Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists’ “Teaching, Learning and Education Award.”

Adrienne is currently involved with a number of educational initiatives, including the Tools for Practice articles, Roadshow presentations and Best Practice Support Visits. She is passionate about evidence-based medicine and translating evidence into practice.

Adrienne’s other jobs include chasing after her three young kids, and trying to find time to run and study taekwondo.

James McCormack, BSC PHARM PHARMD

Professor, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Science, University of British Columbia

James received his undergraduate pharmacy degree from the University of British Columbia in 1982, completed a hospital pharmacy residency program at Lion’s Gate Hospital in North Vancouver in 1984, and received his doctorate in pharmacy (PharmD) in 1986 from the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, SC.

Over the past 25 years, James has presented over 400 seminars and 100 publications within the fields of evidence-based medicine, rational drug therapy, and shared-informed decision making. His research focus in knowledge translation and critical appraisal.

Currently, James co-hosts one of the most popular family medicine podcasts in the world: Best Science (BS) Medicine podcast.

Danielle Perry, BSCN MSC CANDIDATE

Knowledge Translation Expert, Alberta College of Family Physicians

Danielle Perry is a Knowledge Translation Coordinator with the Physician Learning Program in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Alberta and a member of the Evidence-Based Medicine (PEER) team. She has a background in nursing and epidemiology.

With the Physician Learning Program and the PEER team, she provides evidence-based education to Primary Care Networks, develops knowledge translation tools, and contributes to Tools for Practice, guideline development and other dissemination products.

Joey Ton, BSCPHARM PHARMD

Clinical Evidence Expert, College of Family Physicians of Canada

Academic Adjunct Colleague, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Alberta

Joey is a pharmacist who graduated with his Bachelors of Pharmacy in 2013 and Doctor of Pharmacy in 2015 both at the University of Alberta. Currently, his role focuses on developing and providing physician education materials that utilizes evidence based medicine. Additionally, he is involved with academic detailing providing education to family physicians around Alberta.

Betsy Thomas, BSC PHARM

Project Manager, Education and KT

Primary Health Care Opioid Response Initiative

Alberta College of Family Physicians/ PEER

Assistant Adjunct Professor, Department of Family Medicine, University of Alberta

Betsy completed her pharmacy degree from the University of Alberta in 1995.  She recently worked as a pharmacist for many years at an independent community pharmacy and a Primary Care Network in Edmonton prior to joining the PEER team.  She has also previously worked in other settings including the University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy and the Institute of Health Economics.

Currently her role with the PEER team is focused on the Primary Health Care Opioid Response Initiative grant as a project manager.  She is involved in creating guidelines for opioid use disorder and chronic pain for primary care as well as developing tools for knowledge translation of those guidelines.

Betsy is married with 3 children and loves reading and being a soccer mom.

Nikita McEwan, BA

Coordinator, Members Program, Alberta College of Family Physicians.

Nikita completed her Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology with a special interest in Mortuary Archaeology and Osteology. She has experience in event planning and volunteer coordinating through the various MacEwan University’s Career Fairs. Her passion lies within learning, sharing, experiencing and celebrating who we are as humans. Nikita is very excited to be apart of the PEER Team!

Jessica Kirkwood, MD CCFP (AM)

Assistant Professor, Family Medicine, University of Alberta

Jessica is the newest member of PEER, having joined the team in September 2019 as an Assistant Professor with the University of Alberta. She has been a family physician at the Boyle McCauley Health Centre since 2012, providing primary care to patients dealing with homelessness, mental illness and substance use disorders. She is very passionate about helping educate primary care providers and learners to care for marginalized patients in a way that is empathic as well as evidence-based. She attended medical school and residency at the University of Alberta and Dr. Korownyk was her faculty advisor in residency.

Samantha Moe, BScPhm ACPR PharmD

Clinical Evidence Expert, The College of Family Physicians of Canada

Adjunct Lecturer, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto

Adjunct Lecturer, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto

Samantha Moe completed her undergraduate pharmacy degree in 2001 and Doctor of Pharmacy in 2006 at the University of Toronto. She completed a hospital residency at the London Health Sciences Centre. After working for ten years in a family medicine teaching unit in a local community teaching hospital, she is now working with the College of Family Physician to develop education tools and guidelines, in collaboration with PEER. Sam is mother to three kids, and can often be found on a yoga mat, or nose buried in a great novel.

Nicolas Dugré, PharmD MSC

Assistant clinical professor, Faculty of pharmacy, University of Montréal

Pharmacist, CIUSSS du Nord-de-l'Ile-de-Montréal

Nicolas received his Doctor of pharmacy in 2011 and his Master degree in advanced pharmacotherapy in 2012 from the University of Montréal.  He has since been sharing his time between teaching at the university, co-hosting a French medical podcast and working as a clinical pharmacist at the Sacré-Coeur Family medecine group in Montréal.

Nicolas contributes to Tools for practice, guideline development and other knowledge translation projects.