Katie Ambrose is currently the Acting Statewide Pharmacy Technician Manager (Bedside Medication Management project). This role is the Project Lead for the Bedside Medication Management initiative, facilitating implementation of the ward-based pharmacy technician service throughout most wards in the four hospitals within the Tasmania Health Service, and the preparation of associated documentation and training resources.
Katie has eight years’ experience in varying technician and lead technician roles within hospital pharmacy (Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Perth and Tasmanian Health Service – Statewide Hospital Pharmacy).
Katie’s interest lies in documenting and executing new initiatives, projects, processes and positions. She has authored and co-authored numerous Standard Operating Procedures and Technician Positions Guides for varying technician roles.
Katie is passionate about training, mentoring, and developing our hospital pharmacy technician workforce to encourage service improvement, consistency and to build a competent and efficient technician workforce. Connect with Katie on LinkedIn!
Jasmine is a senior pharmacist at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital with extensive experience in Renal and Transplant Pharmacy. She is responsible for patients in the specialties of renal medicine, (including the dialysis unit), transplantation and hepatology. She has a lead role in overseeing the medication management of all renal and hepatology transplants performed at SCGH. She is actively involved with protocol preparations and review for all patients in the renal unit in addition to providing consults on the treatment of Peritoneal Dialysis.
Her expertise has been acknowledged by several organisations and Jasmine has held positions as Health Regulatory Manager at UpJohn in Hong Kong, Drug Information Pharmacist for NPSMedicineWise Therapeutic Advice and Information Service. She was the lead clinical pharmacist of a Chronic Kidney Disease outpatient clinic operating out of Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. She is a member of the Expert Advisory Group (EAG) for Nephrology for the Statewide Medication Formulary.
Jasmine’s passion is focussed on ensuring all renal and transplant patients are provided with education and support to improve their understanding and compliance with often complex medication regimens.
Henry Brodaty AO, MB BS, MD, DSc, FRACP, FRANZCP, FAHMS is a researcher, clinician, policy advisor and strong advocate for people with dementia and their carers. At UNSW Sydney, he is Scientia Professor of Ageing and Mental Health, and Co-Director of the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing. He has published extensively, is a senior psychogeriatrician at Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney. He serves on multiple committees for the NSW and Australian governments and WHO.
He was previously President of International Psychogeriatric Association, Chairman of Alzheimer’s Disease International, and President of Alzheimer’s Australia NSW and Australia. In 2000 he became an Officer of the Order of Australia and in 2016 received the Ryman Prize for the world’s best development, advance or achievement that enhances quality of life for older people.
Margie is the Director of Pharmacy at STARS, a greenfield digital hospital that opened at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic response. She’s an experienced Pharmacy manager who blends her experiential-learning with her love of lifelong-learning and curiosity, by advocating for continuous healthcare improvement and linking workforce wellbeing with better patient outcomes. Recently she has completed her PhD in workforce development and scope of practice by exploring how to best support an advancing scope of practice for pharmacy technicians in Australia. Her findings on this topic, support her passion for value-based healthcare assessments, and as a self-titled Implementation Science Practitioner, she is keen to influence how our pharmacy workforce deliver outcomes that matter to patients. To complement her expertise in workforce development, she is focused on promoting workplace culture that delivers continuously high-quality, safe and compassionate healthcare, where workforce flexibility and competency can be maintained in the face of rapid change and uncertainty, and in developing staff that are adaptive, responsive with capacity to innovate. To keep things interesting, she is also a Community Pharmacy Proprietor and a mother of two amazing girls.
Lindsay Cane brings experience as a seasoned NFP CEO and Non Executive Director to SHPA, having led national and state health agencies, sporting organisations, not-for-profit and private sector businesses. Lindsay is currently a Non Executive Director for the Confederation of Australian Sport, WentWest (Western Sydney PHN), Gidget Foundation Australia and the SHPA. She is the recently retired CEO and Project Director for Royal Far West, a children’s charity which provides specialist health, education and family care and support services for children in rural Australia. Her previous leadership roles included CEO of Netball Australia, Executive Director of the Physiotherapy Association and CEO of Asthma Foundation NSW. In 2019 Lindsay was awarded Third Sector CEO of the Year and received an AM honours award for her contribution to community.
Associate Professor Betty Chaar is a Research Academic Director for Research Ethics and Integrity at the Faculty of Medicine and Health, and Chair of the Professionalism Committee for the School of Pharmacy at the University of Sydney.
Dr Chaar is an academic and researcher in Pharmacy Practice at the School of Pharmacy. She holds a Master’s degree in Health Law and her PhD is about professional ethics in pharmacy. She has many years’ experience in community pharmacy, hospital pharmacy and academia upon which she bases her research. Her research focusses on pharmacy practice, in particular as it relates to ethical practice and implementation of standards of practice. This includes but is not restricted to, the role of the pharmacist in addiction and harm minimisation; medicines shortages, complementary medicines; conscientious objection in the context of euthanasia and abortion; medicines in professional sports; the teaching of ethics in pharmacy in Australian curricula, and other contemporary issues.
Betty is a Fellow of the International Pharmaceutical Federation, Chair of the FIP Ethics Expert Group and long-standing member of the FIP Congress Program Committee. She has been Chair of the Family Planning NSW Human Research Ethics Committee for over 7 years.
Tara has worked in pharmacy practice for fifteen years, and is a strong advocate for the technician workforce, clinical excellence, and patient care.
Tara has spent most of her career working in South Australia in leadership positions focusing on clinical services and pharmacy-based projects and policy. She has a keen in interest in strategic planning and workforce development and enjoys working to build strong teams across metropolitan and regional settings.
In August Tara moved to Tasmania as to work with the public hospital pharmacy service as the Statewide Pharmacy Technician Manager. This unique position has embedded the technician voice at the executive level and provides oversight and support to the growth of this workforce across all service settings. Tara has been thoroughly enjoying getting to know the people and services and has been reinspired by the significant investment in pharmacy technicians and the excitement and enthusiasm for change.
Twitter: @Tara_Pharm_Tech
Liz has worked in the Emergency and Trauma Centre at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital for over 12 years. Her key interests are toxicology and resuscitation, with an enthusiasm for health practitioner education and developing advanced scope practice.
She leads a team of specialist clinical pharmacists and has built an extended service with active roles in resuscitation and trauma. Originally from the UK, she completed her clinical residency in large teaching hospitals before moving to Australia in 2008 for what has turned into the world’s longest working holiday. She has not lost her accent.
Twitter: @ED_theEDpharm
John is 16 years into his second pharmacy career, having also dedicated 15 years to working for The Salvation Army. During this second phase of pharmacy, he has covered multiple roles in private hospital pharmacy services. Roles include electronic prescribing training and development pharmacist (in the embryonic days electronic prescribing systems), oncology pharmacist, hospital pharmacy manager, and director of pharmacy.
For the last 10 years he has been a General Manager, Pharmacy Services for Icon Group Pharmacy. Most recently taking on a portfolio covering hospitals and clinic across Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania. In this role has day-to-day responsibility and oversight for all aspects of pharmacy services. This service includes 31 hospital pharmacy services, community pharmacy, sterile and non-sterile compounding and specialty pharmacy services such as IVF.
Key focuses of this role include development and delivery of strategic plans, governance and risk, contract negotiation, contract compliance, executive level hospital relationships, financial performance, business growth, and workforce development and sustainability.
External to this role her has been involved the steering committee for SHPA Victorian Managers Day, the independent steering committee for the Roche Directors of Pharmacy Forums in 2018 and 2019, SHPA Medicines Leadership forums in 2018 and 2019, SHPA Platinum Mentoring Program (as mentor) in 2019, and PSA student mentoring in 2016 and 2017. John is the current SHPA Victorian Branch Chair.
Wendy Ewing the Deputy Director of Pharmacy, Quality at Monash Health, Victoria. In this role Wendy oversees medication safety across Monash Health, the largest health public service in Victoria and is responsible for quality and safety activities of the Pharmacy Department. Wendy is a member of the Victorian Therapeutics Advisory Group (VicTAG) Management Committee and chairs the VicTAG Quality Use of Medicines Group. She is a member of the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia (SHPA) Medication Safety Leadership Committee and passionately advocates for patient safety through collaboration, leadership and continuous improvement.
Toby Gilbert is a consultant physician in General Medicine, working between the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where he is the Head of Unit, and the Royal Adelaide Hospital. Toby studied undergraduate medicine at University College Dublin before emigrating to Australia in 2012. He has an interest in diagnostic reasoning, quality improvement and person-centred care, and has a research interest in the application of machine learning algorithms to streamline and improve care delivery.
David is a specialist in palliative medicine, working with the Northern Adelaide Palliative Service. His work encompasses supporting consumers and families in community and residential care, consultation liaison and inpatient palliative care. Additionally, he provides support for country palliative care through face to face, telehealth and telephone consultations with consumers and clinicians.
He is a senior clinical lecturer at the University of Adelaide. He was the clinical lead for the Statewide Palliative Care Clinical Network 2019-2021 and helped develop palliative care pandemic resourcing, a South Australian Palliative Care Framework and the review of Advance Care Directives in South Australia.
An interest in his own learning has led him to study a Master of Health Administration through Flinders University and complete an Associate Fellowship in the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators in early 2020.
He is a Vitaltalk international alumni having studied communication in both Australia and US. David facilitates workshop learning in the core topic, communication at the end of life, for the Master of Palliative Care at Flinders University and in 2021 completed work with the Adelaide PHN in delivering communication training in residential aged care.
David represents the Australian and New Zealand Society of Palliative Medicine in the Palliative Care Education and Training Collaborative National Advisory Group.
David remains continually delighted in the passion for improved communication and palliative care provision and improvement in South Australia.
Joseph is a medical specialist and academic in aged care.
Joseph was a founding member of the Clinical Liaison Service (2002-2009) the first clinical service in the world to assist a State Coroner’s Office (Victoria) investigating system failures associated with premature health and aged care deaths.
Joseph is the lead author of “Recommendations for prevention of injury-related deaths in residential aged care services.” This work has informed approaches for protecting residents from abuse and poor practices and ensuring proper clinical and medical care standards are maintained and practiced.
Joseph completed the first comprehensive national study of injury-related deaths among nursing home residents in the world considered one of the Top 10 influential research studies in 2017 published in the Medical Journal of Australia. Joseph was one of three people recognized by the Sydney Morning Herald Good Weekend's “People Who Mattered 2019: Health”.
Joseph has been pivotal to influencing national policy evidenced by provision of expert testimony and citation in the Australian Law Reform Commission into Elder Abuse, the Carnell and Paterson Report, the Commonwealth Senate Inquiry for protecting residents from abuse and poor practices, the House of Representatives Inquiry House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs Inquiry and Report on Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence (2021) and more recently the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety’s Interim Report Neglect (2019) Special Report into COVID-19 (2020) and Final Report (2021).
Joseph has also provided evidence to the Victorian Law Reform Commission’s Improving the Response of the Justice System to Sexual Offences (2020).
Joseph’s more recent submissions were to the United Nations Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by older persons addressing “A human rights analysis of the impacts of COVID-19 on persons in Australian Residential Aged Care Facilities (2021)” and “The Impact of Sexual Violence in Residential Aged Care on the Rights of Older Women (2021)”.
Joseph’s ongoing research is investigating approaches to reducing harm to older persons and improving quality of life. Joseph has also been called as an expert witness for criminal, coroner’ cases and the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.
Karlee is a clinical pharmacist who has worked primarily in critical care for the more than 10 years and is an advanced practice pharmacist. Having recently stepped away from full-time clinical work Karlee has moved into teaching and research. She currently lectures pharmacology to medical students at the ANU Medical School, where she is also a PhD candidate. Karlee’s PhD is investigating pharmacist burnout and in particular how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the wellbeing of Pharmacists in Australia.
Associate Professor Karina Kennedy is a Clinical Microbiologist and Infectious Diseases Physician at Canberra Health Services. She is Director of Clinical Microbiology at ACT Pathology, and the ACT representative on the Public Health Laboratory Network. Karina has a keen interest in diagnostic stewardship and the role of the microbiology laboratory in antimicrobial stewardship. Other areas of interest include antimicrobial resitance, epidemiology of bacteraemia and invasive fungal infections.
A/Prof Sue Kirsa is the Director of Pharmacy at Monash Health. She Chairs the Board of the Australian Pharmacy Council and holds an Adjunct Associate Professor appointment at the Centre for Medicines Use and Safety at the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University. She has pharmacy leadership experience spanning over more than 20 years and has been involved with many pharmacy organisations and government advisory groups and committees. She has published in areas of antimicrobial stewardship, pharmacy practice and medication safety. She is a past president of SHPA and a recipient of the Fred J Boyd award.
Twitter: @SKirsa
Jill Klein received her Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of Michigan in 1990. She then joined the faculty in the Marketing Department at Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University. From 1997 through 2008 she was on the faculty at INSEAD. She joined Melbourne Business School in 2009, and Melbourne Medical School in 2015.
Jill teaches Clinical Decision Making, Leadership and Resilience. Her research interests are medical decision making, diagnostic error, and medical student well being. She has published widely, including in the British Medical Journal, Medical Education, Management Science and Harvard Business Review. She authored the book, We Got the Water: Tracing My Family’s Path Through Auschwitz and is currently writing Thriving in Medical School. She often appears in the media, and has had pieces published in The Guardian, Australian Financial Review, The Age and Huffington Post.
Jill plays soccer regularly and plans to continue to do so until her knees give out.
Liam is a pharmacist and a 2nd year PhD candidate in The University of Queensland School of Pharmacy. His thesis is the 3D printing of pharmaceutical solid oral dosage forms. Liam finished his undergraduate pharmacy degree in 2020. In the majors component of 4th year, Amir Popat was his supervisor and Liam was working with one of his postdoctural students on 3D printing drugs, especially with lipid formulations. Liam gained a serious passion for this research, and decided to jump straight into a PhD part time while completing his pharmacy internship full time. Now, Liam has transitioned to doing his PhD full time, and still does weekly shifts as a registered pharmacist. Liam's passion in this field has only continued to grow, and has led him to compete in several competitions such as the three-minute thesis and other educational experiences involving topics such as research commercialisation. Liam is very proud to have published his first paper earlier this year in the Medical Journal of Australia, in collaboration with some amazing senior researchers, and some great exposure in the form of a podcast invitation and few online articles as well. Liam feels very passionate about his field and is excited to keep experimenting and writing.
Twitter: @KruegerL_
Amy is an experienced clinical pharmacist who has been working as the AMS pharmacist across the Top End health service in the Northern Territory. Amy has recently relocated to Brisbane as a Pharmacist Research Fellow at the Herston Institute for Infectious Diseases. For a pharmacist who loves infections, there can be no better workplace. Amy has a background in editing (Therapeutic Guideline), ID and AMS (Royal Brisbane and Womens' hospital) and ICU (The Canberra Hospital), and was lucky enough to spend a year in Vanuatu as an Australian Youth Ambassador for development where her love of tropical climates first began. Amy hopes that in her workshop, we can discuss some uncommon, but also some common infections, and ensure all pharmacists have a robust clinical process to manage the known, and the unknown.
Twitter: @legg_wamy
Richard Marotti is currently the Acting Executive Director of SA Pharmacy, the statewide pharmacy service in South Australia. Richard is also the substantive Director of Pharmacy for Northern Adelaide Local Health Network and also previously had a career as a pharmacist in the Royal Australian Air Force, which included a deployment to East Timor in 2006 as part of Operation ASTUTE.
Fiona Maxwell's career has spanned the non-profit, government and university sectors in Australia and the USA. Fiona is currently Executive Director, Queensland for FareShare, Australia’s largest charity kitchen, cooking 1 million meals for people who are food insecure every year. She is also Acting Chair of DVConnect, statewide domestic violence crisis service. Fiona was the CEO of Brisbane Powerhouse, Brisbane’s creative precinct, home to a dynamic program of arts, events, markets and great dining experiences for 6 years. She spearheaded the precinct masterplan, setting the organisation up for the future growth of the region.
Fiona was Queensland Manager for Philanthropy Australia, establishing the Brisbane office and supporting philanthropists and non-profits alike to grow the sector. Fiona’s role as Queensland Manager, Artsupport Australia encompassed growing cultural philanthropy – working with local philanthropists, advisors and intermediaries – as well as supporting the non-profit sector to build stronger and more sustainable relationships with its' supporters.
Prior to this role, Fiona was Executive Director of the Next Wave Festival. She has been Chair and board member of organisations including industry service and peak bodies, internet start-up and philanthropic grant-making committees. These include Women & Change, Queensland women’s giving circle, the Lord Mayor’s Creative Advisory Board for Brisbane City Council and the being a judge for the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards.
Fiona holds a Bachelor of Arts from QUT, a Masters from the University of New South Wales and recently completed the Executive Program for Non-profit Leaders at Stanford University. She is a fellow of the Australia Council Arts Leaders Program.
Twitter: @fareshare_aus
Professor Faye McMillan is a Wiradjuri yinaa (woman) originally from Trangie, NSW. Faye is a community pharmacist and is recognised as the first Indigenous Australian to hold a western degree in pharmacy in this country. Faye is a strong advocate for improving Indigenous health care across professions, notably being a founding member and President of Indigenous Allied Health Australia.
Faye is currently one of two Deputy National Rural Health Commissioners, and also works at the University of Technology Sydney, as Professor in Indigenous Health in the School of Public Health, as well as a board member of The Australian Pharmacy Council (APC) and is also the chair of the APC Indigenous expert strategy group.
Faye has received numerous accolades for her leadership and contribution to population health, education, equity and the community. In 2022, Faye was awarded 2022 Australian Pharmacist of the Year. In 2021 Associate Professor McMillan was appointed as a Member (AM) of the Order of Australia in the Queen’s Birthday 2021 Honours List. Professor McMillan’s appointments and awards recognise her significant service to Indigenous mental health, pharmacy and to tertiary education. In 2019 she was named as the NSW Aboriginal Woman of the year; in 2017 she was recognised in the Who's Who of Australian Women; and in 2014 she was included in the Australian Financial Review and Westpac 100 women of influence. Faye holds a Doctor of Health Science, Master of Indigenous Health Bachelor of Pharmacy, Graduate Certificate Wiradjuri Language, Culture and Heritage, Graduate Certificate Indigenous Governance, and Graduate Certificate in Education. She is a Senior Atlantic Fellow for Social Equity.
Twitter: @DrFayeMcMillan
Kristin Michaels has been the Chief Executive of The Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia (SHPA) since 2015, a time that has seen record membership growth and retention and a revolutionised role as the indispensable professional partner for Australia’s leading community of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians.
A contemporary Chief Executive with almost 20 years’ experience within healthcare organisations, and through Board Directorships in both the primary and acute sectors, Kristin has modernised SHPA in step with the evolving nature of Australian healthcare, implementing agile operations and guiding the development of new strategic directions to position SHPA for future growth. A Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Kristin also has extensive experience as a professional mentor and executive coach and is a qualified futurist.
Twitter: @SHPAChiefExec
Jared is a proud Yuwi man, pharmacist and early-career researcher with interests spanning from culturally safe and effective pharmacy practice through to new technologies for pharmaceutical development and delivery. After graduating from UQ School of Pharmacy in 2012, Jared worked as a community pharmacist before returning to undertake a PhD in pharmaceutical sciences, focusing on discovering new drugs for Alzheimer’s disease. Throughout his PhD, Jared developed an interest in teaching and tutored for many pharmacy courses. Ultimately this led Jared to apply for his current role as a Lecturer with UQ School of Pharmacy when he finished his PhD in 2021. As of 2022, Jared has developed and run a brand-new Pharmacy Practice and Medicines Management course for first-year students, and his lab is researching the application of 3D printing in drug delivery, with the goal of developing personalised solid dose forms for patients.
Twitter: @JaredMilesPhD
Jason’s role as First Nations Officer entails him driving our First Nations engagement and programs as well as implementing our Reconciliation Action Plan. This will include practical actions that will drive FareShare contribution to reconciliation both internally and externally with the partners and in the communities in which we operate.
“I am passionate and committed to improving food insecurity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples living in remote, regional and urban parts of Australia,” says Jason. “Poor nutrition and diet-related chronic conditions are responsible for a large portion of ill health experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Improving nutrition and food security are fundamentally important in ‘Closing the Gap’ for First Nations peoples.”
leads FareShare’s work in supporting regional and remote communities where access to affordable, nutritious food is often limited and logistics challenging. He also coordinates activities closer to the kitchen, including our support of local community groups and services.
With a passion for community-led services and a focus on establishing genuine connections, he has driven an innovative program known as Meals for the Mob.
Jason established Non-Contact deliveries to First nations communities during Covid for food relief, coordinating with multiple community groups and services as well as Government, Local Council, Local Aboriginal Land Councils, Health Dept, SES, Police and PCYC groups, and Community Controlled Health Services.
Twitter: @farehare_aus
Dr Lisa Nissen is the Program Director - Health Workforce Optimisation, Centre for Business and Economics of Health in the Faculty of Business at The Queensland University of Technology. Prior to this role Lisa was the Head of the School of Clinical Sciences at Queensland University of Technology. She is an experienced pharmacy practitioner, researcher and educator having worked in hospital and community pharmacy in metropolitan and rural areas Australia. Her focus is on improving the Quality Use of Medicines in the wider community, with a focus on health service development and factors that influence the prescribing of medicines. In 2021 she was seconded to the Queensland Health COVID19 Vaccination Taskforce as an expert advisor to the roll-out across the state. Lisa has been a key driver and expert in the profession nationally and internationally for scope expansion for pharmacists in vaccination.
Twitter:@nissen_l
Dr Rahman holds membership at the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, the Epilepsy Society of Australia, the American Epilepsy Society and is on the Tuberous Sclerosis of Australia Advisory Committee.
Professor Jason Roberts is a Clinical Pharmacist at Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital and an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council Leadership Fellow at The University of Queensland. He is Acting Director of the University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research as well as Interim Director of the Herston Infectious Diseases Institute (HeIDI). He also leads the Centre of Research Excellence RESPOND which aims to develop optimised antibiotic dosing regimens to improve patient outcomes and minimise the emergence of antibiotic-resistant superbugs. He has been fortunate enough to serve on the Leadership Committees for Critical Care and Infectious Diseases for SHPA for >10 years and is a former Chair of the Queensland Branch.
Twitter: @jasonroberts_pk
Professor Shakib is Professor of Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Adelaide. His main research interest is in problems of polypharmacy and multimorbidity. He is also a principal investigator in a phase I clinical trial unit.
Instagram: @pharmatine_studies
Tom has held a variety of roles in healthcare leadership, including Executive Director for eHealth Strategy for Tasmania; Director of Strategy, Planning, and Performance for Southern Area Health Service; Director of Pharmacy at the Royal Hobart Hospital, and his current role of Executive Director, Statewide Hospital Pharmacy. He also holds a conjoint appointment as Senior Clinical Lecturer, School of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, University of Tasmania.
As leader of Tasmania’s public hospital pharmacy service, Tom has led the adoption of digital medication management tools, statewide training and support programs such as SHPA ClinCat and Residency supported by a team of pharmacy educators, virtual clinical pharmacy services to district hospitals, a multidisciplinary Safe Medication Practice Unit, extended hours clinical pharmacy services, safety initiatives such as SmartPumps and antimicrobial stewardship, partnered pharmacist medication charting (PPMC), and most recently a significant expansion in pharmacy technician roles through the Bedside Medication Management initiative. Tom is a member of SHPA’s Leadership and Management leadership group and a member of the Tasmanian Branch Committee of SHPA. In 2019 Tom established the first Advanced Training Residency in Pharmacy Leadership and Management. In 2018 Tom was awarded the Tasmanian Pharmacist of the Year by the SHPA, Pharmacy Guild, and PSA for his contribution to pharmacy practice in Tasmania. Following this he was awarded the 2019 SHPA Medal of Merit for contributions locally and nationally. Tom is passionate about hospital pharmacy, the SHPA, and leadership development; in particular the skills required to ensure that hospital pharmacy activities and services are given the recognition and funding that is required to ensure patients’ needs are met.
Twitter: @TomSimpsonPharm
Twitter: @tomssimpson
Jo is the Acting Deputy Director of Pharmacy – Acute and Urgent Care & Specialty Medicine in Central Adelaide Local Health Network. She is passionate about improving medication safety through patient and clinician education. Jo has previously worked in a range of clinical role in Emergency, General Medicine, Palliative Care, Geriatrics and Rehabilitation, and most recently in the Division of Aged Care, Rehabilitation and Palliative Care at Modbury Hospital where she implemented and developed the role of the pharmacist in the chronic pain service. Jo has significant experience as a lecturer and continues to teach in undergraduate and post graduate pharmacy programs. Jo is also the current Chair of the SHPA Palliative Care Leadership Committee.
Erica is the Chief Pharmacy Information Officer and Deputy Director of Pharmacy at Alfred Health. In addition, Erica leads the clinical pharmacy program to General Medicine, Intensive Care, Emergency Medicine, Hospital-in-the-Home and Aged Care at Alfred Health.
Erica was instrumental in the development and implementation of a partnered pharmacist medication charting model (PPMC) in the General Medical Unit and Emergency Short Stay Unit in 2012. This involved developing the model and guideline, engaging relevant senior medical staff and designing a credentialing program. In 2014, Alfred Health received a grant from the DHHS to evaluate the partnered pharmacist charting model at both admission and discharge. Erica was the project manager for this project and the evaluation showed that partnered pharmacist charting on admission in General Medicine and the Emergency Short Stay was safe and effective.
As part of her PhD, Erica led the expansion of the PPMC model to seven sites across Victoria with the support of the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Approximately 9000 patients were recruited over the study period with significant changes to the delivery of pharmacy services to general medical units made across the seven sites. This landmark study demonstrated that the partnered pharmacist charting model not only reduced medication errors but also reduced in-hospital length of stay. This is the largest study of this type internationally that has shown a reduction in length of stay of this magnitude.
The model has now been implemented in many major teaching hospitals in Victoria and other states across Australia, and was funded by the Victorian Health Department for expansion into other clinical settings including Oncology and rural and regional settings. The model has been externally evaluated and demonstrated major improvements in patient care.
Jo Wallace is the Director of Pharmacy at Royal Darwin Palmerston Hospitals, a position she has held since 2011, after working as a clinical pharmacist in Australia and Scotland. She is Chair of the NT Drugs and Therapeutics Committee and has a strong interest in medicines governance. She is the professional lead for Pharmacy across the Top End, supporting pharmacists working in Gove District Hospital, Katherine Hospital, and Mental Health services.
She has a passion for workforce development and service planning to support pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to work to their full potential, develop their leadership skills, and positively impact patient care.
Joanne (Jo) Watson, PhD has practiced as a Speech Pathologist, researcher, and lecturer in the disability sector for 30 years. Jo has an extensive national and international profile, having lived, practiced, taught, and engaged in research while in Hong Kong, China, Australia, and the USA. Jo’s research is focused on supporting people with intellectual disability and complex communication support needs to live self-determined lives and is fueled by a steadfast commitment to equality. Jo is unwavering in her conviction that human communication is central to enabling people with disability to achieve their human right of autonomy. She believes that the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, to which Australia is a signatory, provides humanity with an unprecedented mechanism with which universal autonomy can be achieved, not only for people who communicate using language, but for people who communicate informally, a group she believes are ‘rarely heard’.
Twitter: @jowat
Twitter: @Deakin_DI
Professor Johanna Westbrook, PhD, FTSE, FAIDH, FACMI, FIAHSI, is internationally recognised for her research evaluating the effects of information and communication technology (ICT) in health care which has led to significant advances in our understanding of how clinical information systems deliver (or fail to deliver) benefits. Her highly applied research has supported translation of this evidence into policy, practice, and IT system design changes. Johanna has contributed to theoretical models regarding the design of complex multi-method ICT evaluations. She led the development of the Work Observation Method by Activity Timing (WOMBAT) software to support the conduct of observational workflow studies. WOMBAT has been used in over 14 countries and version 3.0 is available in the Apple Store.
In 2019 she presented research findings to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety regarding the contribution that ICT can make to supporting improvements in monitoring the quality of care and outcomes in the sector. Johanna’s interests centre around designing innovative approaches to delivering robust research evidence to inform translational improvements in the delivery and outcomes of health services.
Johanna has >450 publications and been awarded >$50M in research grants. In 2014 she was named Australian ICT professional of the year. In 2020 she received the NHMRC Elizabeth Blackburn Investigator Award. Johanna has contributed to many policy bodies including being appointed to the inaugural Board of the Australian Digital Health Agency; Chair of the Deeble Institute Advisory Board, Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association, and is a Co-Director for the Safety, Quality, Informatics and Leadership (SQIL) Program for the Harvard Medical School.
Twitter: @JWestbrook91
