2026 Cumming School of Medicine Alumni of Distinction Awards

Dr. Allison Brown, PhD ’20, is an expert in medical education who completed her PhD in Community Health Sciences at the University of Calgary.  Since joining the faculty, she has contributed to educational development and innovation across undergraduate and graduate programs. She played a key role at the Cumming School of Medicine in renewing the undergraduate medical education curriculum, and was involved in the development and launch of the Master of Physician Assistant Studies (MPAS) program in Fall 2024. Dr. Brown also continues teaching and supervision within the Community Health Sciences graduate program and serves as the Assistant Director of Education Scholarship for the MPAS program. 

Dr. Brown is recognized for her work that has advanced curriculum design, program assessment, and admissions processes in health professions education, informing how medical education responds to the evolving needs of learners and the health care system.

Ms. Brianna Guenther graduated from the Bachelor of Health Sciences program in 2009. She is a distinguished corporate lawyer and governance leader who is deeply committed to her community and to philanthropy. Ms. Guenther’s history of volunteer service and philanthropic endeavors is outstanding. Currently a board member of the Calgary Health Foundation, she is also the co-founder and co-chair of the Mercedes-Benz Country Hills NICU Fashion Show, an annual event supporting patients in Calgary’s neonatal intensive care units. As a member of the board of directors for the Wings of Hope Breast Cancer Foundation, an entirely volunteer-run organization which she chaired from 2020-2025, she guided the organization through growth, modernization, and the COVID crisis with steadiness and grace.  Her decades-long dedication to charitable leadership spans healthcare, children’s services, education, and women’s initiatives.

Whether she is advising boards or championing healthcare innovation, Ms. Guenther brings warmth, integrity, and a steadfast belief in building a healthier, stronger Calgary for the next generation.

Dr. Matthew James, MD, PhD ‘11 is a clinician-scientist in the departments of Medicine and Community Health Sciences at the University of Calgary.  Dr. James' research is focused on risk prediction, computerized decision support tools, and pragmatic trials designed to improve the quality of care and health outcomes of people with kidney and cardiovascular diseases.  He holds research funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Alberta Innovates, is a University of Calgary Research Excellence Chair, and his work has been recognized with a Mid-Career Research Leader Award from the O’Brien Institute of Public Health and a Killam Emerging Research Leader Award.

Dr. James’s has extensive leadership roles including co-lead of the Alberta Kidney Disease Network (AKDN), Interdisciplinary Chronic Disease Collaboration (ICDC), and the Can-SOLVE CKD Strategy for Patient Oriented Research (SPOR) Network, and director of Research for the Alberta Provincial Project for Outcomes Assessment in Coronary Heart Disease (APPROACH).