2021 Award Recipients

Bachelor of Science (Exercise and Health Physiology)

A trained Emergency Medical Responder, Cassandra Chisholm has logged over 1,000 volunteer hours with UCalgary’s Student Medical Response Team – and has served as the team’s Director of Operations. She is also a harm reduction responder for UCalgary’s Post-Alcohol Support Space, where students can safely sleep off the effects of alcohol or cannabis.

Cassandra has focused her academic work on harm reduction and helping those who suffer from chronic pain. She developed an education tool that helps patients manage their pain by understanding the science behind it and, with the Acute/Chronic Pain Group, continues to focus on improving approaches to pain management.

In the Calgary community, Cassandra volunteers as facilitator with the Alberta Health Services (AHS) Teens Talk Transition Workshop, which prepares adolescents with complex health histories for the adult health care system. She volunteers as a patient advisor for the AHS Pain Committee, helping in its work to improve the lives of children experiencing chronic pain. Cassandra was also a medical crew volunteer for the Kidney Foundation of Canada’s annual Kidney March for five years and is a volunteer instructor for Stop the Bleed, a course that teaches people how to save lives in the event of a mass casualty incident.

Cassandra’s leadership in harm reduction at the national level includes serving on Health Canada’s Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy Advisory Committee, being the Western Canadian Student Representative for the Post-Secondary Educational Partnership on Alcohol Harms, and attending the Leadership Academy on Alcohol Harm Prevention in Slovenia.