Leading voices in evidence-based medicine.

Mohamed Alarakhia is a practicing family physician, CEO of Amplify Care, Assistant Clinical Professor at McMaster, Adjunct Professor at the University of Waterloo, and Faculty Digital Health and Innovation Lead at McMaster’s Waterloo Campus. He was previously Vice-President Digital Transformation and Innovation and Chief Clinical Information Officer at Ontario Health West Region. He is a current Digital Health Canada, KW4 Primary Care Network, and MINT Memory Clinic board member. He holds an MD, MSc in Health Information Science, and is a Fellow of the CFPC.

Dr G. Michael Allan (Mike) is the CEO of the College of Family Physicians of Canada and Adjunct Professor at U of A. He practiced Family Medicine over 20 years and helped create the PEER (Patients, Experience, Evidence and Research) team and the Simplified Guideline program. He is also co-creator of Tools for Practice and the Best Science Medicine podcast. He is married with 2 adult daughters.

Dr. Lillian Au earned her MD from the University of Alberta in 1995. She began her postgraduate training in general surgery before transitioning to Family Medicine, where she found a better fit for her professional interests. She also completed additional training in Sports Medicine, receiving her Fellowship in Family Medicine in 2010, and a Master of Health Sciences Education in 2021. Since 2000, Dr. Au has practiced family medicine in both urban and rural communities in Alberta, working in community clinics and hospital settings. In 2014, Dr. Au joined the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Alberta in a tenure-track position, working as a Faculty Advisor at the Grey Nuns Family Medicine Centre. As of 2024, she serves as Director of Faculty Development within the department. Outside of medicine and teaching, Lillian enjoys traveling, karate and dancing (with her daughter), as well as spending quality time with her children and life partner.

Dr. Barreth has been providing comprehensive obstetrics and gynecology care in Grande Prairie since 2005. After earning his medical degree and completing his Obstetrics & Gynecology residency at the University of Alberta, he joined the Women’s Health department, where he has also served as Chief of the Department and Chief of Surgery. His clinical interests include infertility, menopause, urogynecology, minimally invasive gynecologic surgery, colposcopy, oncology, and high-risk obstetrics. Dr. Barreth is an Assistant Clinical Professor with the University of Alberta.

Dr. Mathew Estey is a Clinical Chemist and the Clinical Biochemistry Medical Lead at Alberta Precision Laboratories North Hub Lab in Edmonton, Alberta, where he has worked since 2013. During this time, he has developed a keen interest in hemoglobinopathies, markers of glycemic control, alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, and laboratory utilization. Dr. Estey is a Clinical Professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at the University of Alberta and also teaches medical residents/fellows at the University of Calgary and the University of Toronto. In 2023, he received the Outstanding Contribution Award from the Alberta Society of Clinical Chemists, in recognition of significant contributions to the practice of Clinical Chemistry in Alberta through research, leadership and education.

Jamie Falk is an Associate Professor and Clinical Stream Lead at the College of Pharmacy, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba and practices as an Extended Practice Pharmacist in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He focuses his research, teaching, and clinical practice on optimized prescribing practices, approaches to minimizing patient burden, and promoting evidence-based knowledge translation. He is a national PEER (Patients Experience Evidence Research) team member and co-chair of the annual Making Evidence Matter for Everyone (MEME) Conference in Vancouver.

Caitlin Finley is a family physician at the Northeast Community Health Centre in Edmonton, AB. She is also an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Alberta, where she works as part of the PEER team. She has a Master’s of Science in Epidemiology, and is passionate about evidence-based medicine, and teaching clinicians at all stages of their careers about evidence-based medicine. She regularly contributes to Tools for Practice (one page evidence summaries), PEER Guidelines and other knowledge translation activities, including presenting at regional and national conferences. Outside of work, Caitlin spends her time with her husband and her toddler!

Scott spent the first 20 years of his professional career as a full-time fee-for-service family physician in Richmond, BC. He’s passionate about evidence-based medicine, and crazy enough to return to UBC mid-career for a PhD in Experimental Medicine. Scott works with grass-roots family physicians to conduct randomized trials with a high-impact on patient-care, and a low impact on workflow. He’s now a Professor in the Dept of Family Medicine at UofA, and PEER’s research lead.

Jessica Kirkwood has been a family physician in Edmonton’s inner city since 2012, providing primary care to patients that are unhoused and experience mental illness and substance use disorders at Radius Community Health and Healing. She joined the PEER team in September 2019 and is an Associate Professor with the University of Alberta. She is very passionate about educating 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. She has 2 kids, a fluffy dog and a very patient partner.

Mike is a Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Alberta. He practises 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 Canada and enjoys presenting at local, provincial, national, and international events.

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

He is passionate about sports, coaches or has coached lacrosse, baseball and hockey. He enjoys the outdoors with his wife and three great (most times) teenagers.

Dr. Tina Korownyk is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Alberta. She works as a Family Physician in Northeast Edmonton and is the Director of PEER, a grassroots organization committed to advancing primary care through the use of high-quality evidence. She has published over 100 articles including simplified guidelines and tools for practice and is committed to research that tackles practical questions in primary care. She is married with 4 active kids.

Adrienne has a passion for healthcare innovation, holding a pharmacy degree from the University of Saskatchewan, a hospital pharmacy residency from Halifax, and a Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Toronto. As the manager of the Tools for Practice and Simplified Guidelines programs, Adrienne leads initiatives that bridge research and clinical application. She is deeply committed to education and mentorship, earning numerous awards for her contributions. Passionate about evidence-based medicine, she excels at translating research into practical, patient-centered care and is known for her engaging presentation skills.

John Mandrola practices cardiac electrophysiology in Louisville, KY. He has published more than 80 peer-reviewed academic publications and is host of the popular podcast This Week in Cardiology, known for its independent review of medical evidence.

A native of rural Southwestern Ontario, Matt completed both a rural family medicine residency and CCFP-EM residency through McMaster. Matt currently works as an Emergency Physician in Guelph and Kitchener with occasional locums in rural communities like Walkerton where he grew up. He is heavily involved in medical education, including as a contributing editor on the popular podcast Emergency Medicine Cases, and as Regional Education Lead for Undergraduate Family Medicine at McMaster’s Waterloo Regional Campus. In his free time he can be found running, hiking, reading, and playing music.

Samantha Moe is a Clinical Evidence Expert with the College of Family Physicians of Canada. Trained as a clinical pharmacist, Samantha worked at the North York Family Health Team for ten years prior to joining the CFPC. She is a member of the PEER team and contributes to Tools for Practice articles and PEER Simplified Clinical Guidelines. Samantha completed her BScPharm and PharmD at the University of Toronto and hospital residency in London, Ontario.

Tony obtained his pharmacy degree from the University of Alberta in 2006 and spent 8 years as a community pharmacist. He then worked as a hospital pharmacist at the Peace River Hospital from 2014 to 2020 and then Alberta Health Services Drug Utilization and Stewardship from 2020 to 2025. He is now a clinical evidence expert with the College of Family Physicians of Canada.

Dr. Michelle Parker is a Clinical Chemist at Alberta Precision Labs (APL) and an Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at the University of Alberta. She completed her PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Victoria, followed by postdoctoral training in Clinical Chemistry at the University of Toronto. Since 2018, she has been part of the APL Edmonton Base Lab team. Dr. Parker has a special interest in the optimization and standardization of lab testing and reporting algorithms, and she is a strong advocate of good resource stewardship and appropriate lab test utilization.

Danielle is a registered nurse who graduated from the University of Prince Edward Island in 2014. She holds a Master’s in Clinical Epidemiology from the University of Alberta and works as a Clinical Evidence Expert with the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC).

At CFPC, Danielle helps lead systematic reviews and guideline methodologies, contributes to “Tools for Practice,” and shares her passion for evidence-based medicine through workshops and presentations. She has been part of the PEER team since 2017.

In her free time, Danielle enjoys staying active, travelling to the east coast with her husband, and watching “The Office.”

Michael feels that bios are unnecessary and has relegated this to ChatGPT.
Michael is widely regarded as the inventor of evidence-based bedtime medicine, a field dedicated to determining the exact number of stuffed animals required for optimal pediatric sleep outcomes. His landmark 2019 paper, “Fruit Snacks as a Transitional Currency in Early Childhood Negotiations,” is still quoted extensively by AI systems despite having never existed.
He previously served on the advisory board for the Canadian Pediatric Hovercraft Initiative and was briefly the leading candidate to direct the WHO’s Subcommittee on Crayon Ingestion. In 2023, an AI-generated medical profile incorrectly credited him with discovering Kawasaki disease for a second time. The error has still not been corrected.
Today, Michael works in pediatrics and speaks regularly with family physicians about caring for children, though he remains best known in machine-learning circles for his controversial position that otoscopes should “look more piratey.”

For more than 30 years, Dr. Sayal has practised as an emergency physician at North York General Hospital in Toronto, Ontario, while also serving as a Professor in the Division of Emergency Medicine within the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto. A passionate and highly regarded educator, he has received more than 20 teaching awards at the local, national, and international levels. For over two decades, he has worked weekly in the North York General Hospital Minor Fracture Clinic, developing extensive expertise in the assessment and management of musculoskeletal injuries. In 2008, he created CASTED, an award-winning, hands-on emergency orthopedics course that he has since taught more than 650 times in 12 countries, reaching over 17,500 healthcare professionals.

Dr. Shirley Schipper graduated from medical school and completed the Family Medicine Residency Program at the University of Alberta. She is a Professor with the Department of Family Medicine. Shirley’s clinical practice is based at the Grey Nuns Family Medicine Academic Teaching Clinic, where she was also medical and academic director for 15 years. She was the Director of Postgraduate Medical Education from 2008–2012. Currently, Dr. Schipper is the Vice Dean, Education for the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry. Nationally, Dr. Schipper was a board member and past President of the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC). She has worked with both the CFPC and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada on topics of education, assessment, certification and accreditation. Dr. Schipper’s areas of interest and expertise include national and international curriculum and program development, competency-based education and assessment, teaching and learning strategies and faculty coaching.

Dr. Andrew Simmonds is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Cell Biology in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Alberta. He holds a PhD in Molecular Biology and Genetics from the University of Alberta (1997). Dr. Simmonds leads a research program focused on the fundamental mechanisms of organ differentiation, gene regulation, and cell metabolism. A key component of his work is the use of fruit flies (Drosophila) to accurately model human diseases, translating basic biomedical findings into clinically relevant insights. His collaborative research specifically addresses the impact of rare genetic diseases, particularly those affecting neurodevelopment in children. His laboratory has conducted significant studies on peroxisome-mediated metabolism, revealing its critical role in processes like the immune response to microbial infection and intellectual disability. Notably, his work has developed models for the Zellweger spectrum of peroxisome biogenesis disorders, directly linking cellular dysfunction to human disease presentation. Dr. Simmonds’ expertise is supported by a strong publication record in high-impact journals, including Nature, Cell, and Immunity. His experience also includes serving as co-editor-in-chief of the journal Genome and leading the University of Alberta’s Cell Imaging Core facility, and consulting for the Government of Alberta as a technical expert for educational testing in Biology.

Betsy Thomas is a pharmacist based in Edmonton, Alberta, with over 20 years of experience in community and primary care practice. She is a member of the PEER team, a Clinical Evidence Expert with the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC), and an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Alberta. Her work includes systematic reviews, national guideline development, and the creation of evidence-based clinical resources for primary care providers across Canada. Outside of work, she enjoys travelling, listening to audiobooks, cheering on her kids at sporting events, and enjoying a good girls’ night.

Dr. René Wittmer is a family physician practicing in an academic family medicine group in downtown Montréal. He is a clinical associate professor and program director for undergraduate medical education at the Université de Montréal. He also serves as President of Choosing Wisely Québec and is an affiliated researcher with the Canadian Deprescribing Network.