ConPharm 2010

Speakers


	Judy Liauw has over 30 years experience in community pharmacy, of which she has spent some 23 years as a pharmacy owner. She is committed to expanding the professional service area within community pharmacy, believing that the future of community pharmacy lies in the provision of paid professional services. Accredited since 2003, Judy firmly believes that the provision of Home Medicines Reviews was the first step towards that goal. Judy joined the AACP Board (one of the four Guild members) in 2005, and became Chair of AACP in July 2008. She is a member of the Pharmacy Board of Tasmania and President of the Tasmanian Branch of The Pharmacy Guild of Australia . Judy is also a member of the PSA and Chair of the Women and Young Pharmacists’ Committee. In 2008 she was appointed to the ERG (External Reference Group) for The Primary Health Care Strategy by Health Minister Nicola Roxon.
	Dr Luke Bereznicki BPharm (Hons) MPS, AACPA, PhD Senior Research Fellow/Senior Lecturer in Pharmacy Practice, Unit for Medication Outcomes Research and Education, School of Pharmacy, University of Tasmania. Dr Bereznicki is currently a Senior Lecturer at the Tasmanian School of Pharmacy. He is also a Senior Research Fellow with the pharmacy-practice research group, UMORE, and writes for a range of pharmacy industry publications. Luke is a practicing pharmacist and regularly works in retail pharmacy and performs medication reviews. Luke was the PSA Young Pharmacist of the Year in 2008. His major research focus has been on improving the use of antithrombotic medications.

	Tim Chen Tim is a pharmacist with clinical hospital and community pharmacy experience. He completed his Diploma in Hospital Pharmacy in 1989 and his PhD in 2002. Tim’s main area of research has focused on the development of professional roles for pharmacists in the area of medication review and mental health. He is the academic coordinator for the graduate Masters of Pharmacy program and coordinator for the Mental Health unit of study. Tim contributes to several national organisations including the National Prescribing Service Research & Development Working Group. Tim’s doctoral research involved the first major Australian study evaluating the role of the pharmacist in conducting medication review and interprofessional collaboration between pharmacists and medical practitioners. This body of research and his subsequent studies in medication review have helped inform a model for practice which has been taken up by the Commonwealth Government. Tim leads a productive research team which includes main supervision of six PhD candidates. He has published three books on medication review and more than 50 scientific papers. Tim was awarded the medal for Young Pharmacist of the Year Excellence Award by the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (2001) in recognition of his research and teaching in Home Medicines Review.

	Mary Collins Mary is an NPS facilitator who has been responsible for delivering the National Prescribing Service educational visiting program at General Practice South for the past ten years in Hobart, Tasmania. Mary has had a long involvement with the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia including Branch President of PSA (Tasmanian Branch), National Councillor and representing the Society on various forums and advisory committees. She is currently a member of the Pharmacy Board of Tasmania and the Board’s Competency Committee. Mary has been an accredited pharmacist since 2002 and is a mentor in the AACP mentoring program. She has a long-standing interest in education having completed a Diploma in Education, Fellowship by thesis of the Society of Hospital Pharmacists and Masters of Pharmacy. Mary believes passionately that pharmacists have a great future as educators to a diverse range of people including other health professionals and consumers in the quality use of medicines.

	Sue Edwards Sue has been providing pharmacy services to Aged Care homes since 1998 and has a strong interest in Quality Use of Medicines (QUM) and transfer of evidenced based information into practice. She has been working with the Drug and Therapeutics Information Service (DATIS) since 1993 and is a pharmacy advisor to General Practice Network South as well as editorial advisory member of AMH Aged care companion. Over the last two years she has been project manager for a project called “Time for Evidenced based Action around PRN medicines in Aged Care” (TEAM aged care).

	Joy Gailer Joy is a senior pharmacist with the Drug and Therapeutics Information Service (DATIS) at the Repatriation General Hospital, South Australia. Her role involves providing balanced therapeutic advice to medical practitioners and pharmacists via educational visits and telephone based therapeutic advice, as well as the development of evidence-based therapeutic reviews. She is actively involved in pharmacy and medical education through the National Prescribing Service, the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia and the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia. Joy is an associate lecturer with the Masters of Clinical Pharmacy course at the University of South Australia and an adjunct lecturer with the School of Pharmacy, University of Queensland. Joy is an accredited pharmacist providing Home Medicines Review and Residential Medication Management Review services, with a keen interest in quality pharmaceutical care of the elderly.

	Dinah Graham Dinah is the Business Development Manager, Pharmacy and General Practice, with MIMS Australia. Dinah trained as a nurse in the UK working in intensive and coronary Care units once qualified. Dinah worked as a sales manager in the pharmaceutical industry for many years and gained broad experience providing training courses for both pharmacy staff and her sales teams. A second and unexpected career move was to become a Montessori teacher while in London in the late 80s. It is Dinah’s teaching and coaching skills together with her deep understanding of the issues faced every day by pharmacists that brings value to her training. Dinah also facilitates eMIMS training for and University Lecturers within Schools of Pharmacy. Dinah currently volunteers as a mentor with the Women’s Network in Sydney and when not working can be found sailing.

	Gwen Higgins Gwen manages the General Practice Divisional Network program as part of the Quality Use of Medicine (QUM) Programs at the National Prescribing Service (NPS). The role includes support and training for NPS facilitators delivering therapeutic programs to the GPs, pharmacists and other health professionals around Australia; assisting with development of NPS resources for health professionals and consumers; and overseeing the professional development point programs for GPs and nurses.

	Professor Jeff Hughes BPharm, Grad Dip Pharm, MPharm, PhD, MPS, AACPA Prof Jeff Hughes is the Head of the School of Pharmacy, Curtin University of Technology. He graduated from the Western Australian Institute of Technology (WAIT) with a BPharm degree in 1978 and since that time he has completed three postgraduate degrees including his PhD which he received in 2007. Jeff has received a number of state and national awards for his contribution to pharmacy education, practice and research including the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia’s Pharmacist of the Year award in 2004, the Eric Kirk Memorial Award in 2008 and the AACP-Pfizer Consultant Pharmacist Award in 2009. His research interests included pharmacy education and practice, and medication safety. He has published over 200 research and professional papers, and contributed to 15 books. Jeff is a practising accredited pharmacist and a part-owner of a community pharmacy.

	Jonathan Isle Jonathan Isles is a General Practitioner with 21 yrs experience following hospital training. He is a member of a 9 person practice in Sandy Bay, now a relatively old suburb of Hobart. He works actively in local aged care facilities and is familiar with the problems of medication delivery to the patients of these establishments. Jonathan has been involved in a variety of university departmental pharmacy projects, the latest one being focussed on the assessment of use and subsequent attempts at reduction in use of benzodiazepines in nursing homes. He has been a member on working groups for the Guild looking at the implementation of Home Medicine Reviews and development of guidelines for their effective introduction. He remains a keen supporter of the Residential Medication Management Reviews, believing that all parties involved in the preparation of the yearly reviews gain significant knowledge and understanding of quite important therapeutic foundations, even in the most simple cases. Jonathan encourages continual improvements and change in the way the Clinician - Pharmacist relationship can evolve, particularly in the opportunities that exist with information technology and communication, and potential areas of conflict as being mostly a chance to collaborate further

	Dr Shane Jackson Shane Jackson has a broad background as a pharmacist. Shane is a practicing community pharmacist, and owner of a rural community pharmacy, near Port Arthur on the Tasman Peninsula, in Tasmania. He also works as a Consultant Pharmacist within the home and aged care settings. He is the President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (Tasmanian Branch) and a Director of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia. He is also a Senior Research Fellow at the Unit for Medication Outcomes Research and Education (UMORE), School of Pharmacy, University of Tasmania, and a board member of the Australian Association of Consultant Pharmacy (AACP). His research interests cover anticoagulation, medication adherence, optimising of medication use in the community, and policy work surrounding pharmacists place in the healthcare team.

	Dr Andrea Lees Dr Lees is a consultant Geriatrician and General Physician at the Royal Hobart Hospital. Her undergraduate medical training was completed in Auckland, New Zealand. She has also worked at Box Hill Hospital in Melbourne, and the Royal Perth Hospital in Western Australia. Her specialty interests are Dementia, Falls and Osteoporosis.

	Dr Karen Luetsch Karen has worked in research science and completed her PhD in pharmacy in Germany. Moving to Australia opened opportunities to focus on clinical pharmacy with various specialties. Currently she wears different hats in her role of QUM Manager at Health Workforce Queensland as NPS and MMR Facilitator as well as contracting with QH to assist in the implementation of medication safety initiatives. Karen also teaches in the Postgraduate Clinical Pharmacy Program and Physician Assistant Program at the University of Queensland and holds a Graduate Certificate in Clinical Education. She is a mentor with AACP for the HMR program and as a Certified Geriatric Pharmacist she performs HMRs for a number of pharmacies on the Sunshine Coast.

	Dr John Maddison Dr John Maddison is a Staff Specialist in Geriatric Medicine and Clinical Pharmacology at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. He is currently Unit Head of the newly formed Geriatric and Evaluation Management Unit at Modbury Hospital in Adelaide. In addition his clinical commitments he is undertaking a PhD in Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Adelaide. He is actively involved in clinical trials from first-in-man phase I studies to phase III studies particularly in the treatment of Alzheimer's Disease. Areas of particular clinical interest include the treatment of memory disorders and the management of elderly patients with multiple comorbidities.

	Prof Andrew McLachlan Andrew McLachlan is a pharmacist, academic and researcher with experience in clinical and experimental pharmacology and research into the Quality Use of Medicines. Andrew is Professor of Pharmacy (Aged Care) in the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Sydney based at Concord Hospital and the Centre for Education and Research on Ageing (CERA) at Concord Hospital. His main research interests centre on understanding the causes and consequences of variability in response to medicines and how this informs their quality use. Andrew serves as the Chair of Australia’s National Medicines Policy Committee.

	Geraldine Moses Geraldine Moses is a doctor of clinical pharmacy, specialising in drug information. She is also an accredited pharmacist. She is based part-time at the Mater Hospital in Brisbane where she operates the Adverse Medicine Events Line, a national telephone-based adverse drug reaction reporting service. She is regularly involved in pharmacy education, at an undergraduate and post-graduate level, for pharmacists as well as other health professionals. She is also well–known for her appearances on radio and TV.

	Dr Abílio Neto Dr Abílio is a registered psychologist in NSW and holds a Bachelor of Science (Psychology) with Honours from the University of New South Wales and a PhD in the area of Pharmacy Practice from the University of Sydney. He formerly held the position of “Program Manager for Pharmacy and Pharmacists Only Medicines” at the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (NSW Branch) and was the inaugural Research and Development Manager at the National Prescribing Service. He holds an honorary associateship at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Sydney, where he is engaged in research in pharmacy practice. He works as Research and Evaluation Manager in a government agency. Dr Neto has been guest speaker at a number of major international pharmacy conferences and has published extensively in pharmaceutical and medical journals. His PhD work on the use of simulated patients as an educational training method for the pharmacy setting is now widely applied in Australia and internationally.

	Claire O’Reilly Claire O’Reilly is a community pharmacist and researcher who has been involved with a number of professional and academic initiatives promoting the development of community pharmacy. Claire is currently undertaking a PhD to research improving mental health services provided through community pharmacy and to develop and evaluate new training and education programs for pharmacists and pharmacy students in the area of mental health. Along with her current role as a National board member of PSA and Vice President of the PSA NSW branch committee, Claire has been a PSA NSW Councillor since 2006 and was previously the Chairperson for the PSA NSW Young Pharmacists’ Group. Claire is actively involved in teaching both graduate and undergraduate pharmacists through PSA and the University of Sydney. Her past achievements include being awarded the PSA NSW Pharmacy Graduate of the Year in 2004, PSA Australian Young Pharmacist of the Year in 2006 and in 2009 she was awarded the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) Young Pharmacist award for Professional Innovation. Claire is an accredited Mental Health First Aid Instructor and has previously worked as a project pharmacist to a community mental health team.

	Warwick Plunkett Warwick Plunkett was first elected to the Council of PSA (NSW) in 1975. He has served on the PSA (NSW) Executive continuously since 1980, being President in 1987-90 and again in 2001-4. He served on the PSA National Council for nine years (seven as an Executive Councilor) and was National President from 1996-97. He rejoined the Board in 2007 in the lead-up to the unification of PSA, served on the Interim Board and was elected as President of the new Board in August 2008. Warwick’s particular interest has revolved around education and professional involvement to secure pharmacy’s professional and commercial future. His major achievements include the development and introduction of the Pharmacy Self Care program (a health promotion program still highly successful more than 20 years later with more than 30 per cent of all Australian pharmacies as members) and the Pharmacy Offshore Refresher Course for which he has acted as organising conference chairman for 30 years. His other achievements include involvement in the delivery of the new PSA Constitution, development of a national continuing education curriculum and the introduction of the Pharmaceutical Care concept leading to acceptance of Domiciliary Medication Management Reviews. He was involved with the development of the Return Unwanted Medicine program and served on its Board since 1998 (Chairman 2003-2007). Warwick served on the council of the ACPP for nine years, including as President from 1998-2000. He has been President of the Pharmacy Practice Foundation since 2004.

	Debbie Rigby BPharm, GradDipClinPharm, AdvDipNutrPharm, CGP, AACPA, FASCP, FPS Debbie Rigby is a consultant clinical pharmacist from Brisbane. Since graduation with a Bachelor of Pharmacy from the University of Queensland she has since obtained a Graduate Diploma in Clinical Pharmacy, Certification in Geriatric Pharmacy, Advanced Diploma in Nutritional Pharmacy and certification as an Asthma Educator. Debbie is a Director of the Australian Association of Consultant Pharmacy (AACP) and member of the National Advisory Group of AACP, as well as the pharmacy class Director of the National Prescribing Service (NPS) Board. Debbie is also a Fellow of PSA and the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists (ASCP). Debbie has a special interest in geriatric pharmacotherapy and chronic disease self-management, regularly conducts medication review services as an accredited pharmacist and provides many presentations to pharmacists, nurses, general practitioners, allied health professionals and consumers. In 2001 Debbie was awarded the PSA Australian Pharmacist of the Year, in 2002 the PSA Qld Bowl of Hygeia and in 2008 was the inaugural recipient of the AACP Consultant Pharmacist Award.

	Helen Rimmer Has worked in Aged Care Management (community and residential) for 13 years. Is a Registered Nurse, has Diploma of Management. Member of Royal College of Nursing, Australia. Helen is currently Director of Care at Queen Victoria Home in Lindisfarne, Hobart. Helen is chairperson of a Joint Homes Medication Advisory Committee – involving four Aged Care Homes, Pharmacists, General Practitioners and Consumer Representative. This group has been meeting for approximately five years.

	Dr John Saul Dr John Saul has been a GP for the last 25 years in Southern Tasmania He has no special interests except community medicine, local health services and the future of general practice. Our philosophy has always been one of a team approach with allied health services. We have always encouraged our doctors to form close working relationships with the local pharmacists and strongly support joint activities such as Home Medication Reviews. He is a founding Partner of the Lauderdale Doctors Surgery which now runs 3 practices including an isolated rural area of South East Tasmania. We are actively involved with medical students and GP registrars at all practices. Other than medicine I have been actively involved in sailing and multisport events.

	Andrew Stafford Andrew graduated from Curtin University of Technology, Western Australia, in 2001, and has worked as a community pharmacist in Western Australia, New South Wales and Tasmania. He completed the AACP accreditation to perform medication reviews in 2005, and shortly afterwards relocated to Hobart to commence postgraduate studies at the University of Tasmania. Andrew is currently employed by the UTAS School of Pharmacy as a Lecturer in Therapeutics and Pharmacy Practice, and is completing his PhD which involves evaluating the outcomes of medication reviews. He also regularly undertakes RMMRs and works as a community pharmacist when the weather is not conducive to fishing

	Peter Tenni Peter Tenni is a Senior Research Fellow in the Unit for Medication Outcomes Research and Education (UMORE) at the University of Tasmania as well as the Manager of the Clinical Division of Medscope and a practicing Accredited Pharmacist. Peter has over 30 years of pharmacy experience in hospital, academic and medication review practice settings. Peter completed both his Masters and PhD further studies in the area of clinical interventions and continues to have a strong interest in the issues of medication related problems in the community.

	Juanita Westbury Juanita’s background is as a military and community pharmacist. She became accredited to perform medication reviews in 1997 and was involved in the QUM project at the University of South Australia which later became a model for the current HMR program. From 2002, Juanita worked as a prescribing support pharmacist in Cheshire, England where she provided pharmaceutical advice to GPs and promoted optimum medication use in the elderly. In 2002, Juanita completed a Master of Science degree at Keele University investigating medication adherence in older people. Whilst in the UK, Juanita was accepted into one of the first prescribing pharmacist courses. In 2005, Juanita returned to Australia and was awarded a joint PSA/University scholarship to complete a PhD at the University of Tasmania, with her thesis entitled: “Roles for pharmacists in improving the quality use of psychotropic medicines in residential care facilities.” In 2009, Juanita accepted a junior researcher award in Montreal, Canada from the International Psychogeriatric Association for her paper; ‘The RedUSe project: An effective approach to reduce antipsychotic and benzodiazepine use in nursing homes’.