The members of PharmAlliance gathered in Chapel Hill Nov. 15 to 19 as the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy hosted researchers and educators from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, and University College London in the United Kingdom for a five-day, two-part collaborative summit focusing on research and practice in pharmacy and the pharmaceutical sciences .
PharmAlliance is a unique international partnership formed in 2015 between three global leaders in pharmacy education: UNC-Chapel Hill, Monash and UCL. The PharmAlliance partners work collaboratively to inspire and train tomorrow’s professional leaders and practitioners to transform education delivery and address major research challenges in pharmacy and the pharmaceutical sciences.
PharmAlliance Global Summit
The PharmAlliance Global Summit on Pharmacy Practice Innovation was held Nov. 15 and 16 and brought together leaders from pharmacy practice associations in the United States, Australia and the U.K. to discuss innovations and challenges within pharmacy practice and opportunities to collaborate on transforming practice across the three countries. The practice summit had three goals, according to the organizers:
- To discuss the pharmacy practice landscape and practice innovations within three countries;
- To exchange strategies for the implementation of best practices across the schools’ spheres of influence
- To identify opportunities for collaboration across organizations and countries
“A highlight of the Summit was hearing the leaders of major pharmacy associations in each country describe the key challenges and opportunities that they have regarding innovative pharmacy practices,” said David Steeb, Pharm.D., director of global engagement at the School and a clinical assistant professor.
“What stood out was that despite cultural, geographic and health-system differences, there was striking similarity in several areas that can serve as a platform for learning and collaboration.”
The practice summit was kicked off by UNC Chapel Hill Provost Bob Blouin, Pharm.D, the dean of the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy from 2003 to 2017. He challenged participants to think differently about pharmacy practice in their countries and to imagine what the possibilities could be for collaboration.
“It has been a great week for PharmAlliance,” Blouin said. “It has literally brought people from around be world to talk about common themes and identify shared problems and work towards solutions.”
The following individuals presented during the global summit:
- Stephen Eckel , Pharm.D., associate dean for global engagement and clinical assistant professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy
- Carl Kirkpatrick, Ph.D., head of pharmacy practice and director of the Centre for Medicine Use and Safety at Monash
- Nadia Bukhari, Ph.D., candidate and Fellow of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society
- Jon Easter, director, UNC Center for Medication Optimization through Practice and Policy and professor of the practice at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy
- Mary Roth McClurg, Pharm.D., M.H.S., associate director for academic innovation and associate professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy
- Shane Jackson, Pharm.D., national president of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia
- Ash Soni, past president of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society
- Tom Menighan, M.B.A., Sc.D., executive vice president and chief executive officer of the American Pharmacists Association
- Stefanie Ferreri, Pharm.D. – executive vice chair of PACE, clinical professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy
- George Tambassis, national president of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia
- Ian Strachan, chair of the National Pharmacy Association
- Kurt Proctor, Ph.D., senior vice president of strategic initiatives at the National Community Pharmacy Association
- Bill Charman, Ph.D., dean of Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at Monash
- Ann Page, chair of the U.K. Clinical Pharmacy Association
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Barry Bunting of the APhA Foundation kicked off the panel discussion on pharmacy practice transformation in North Carolina. Mike Maddux, Pharm.D., executive director of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy
- Curtis Haas, Ph.D., president of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy
- Duncan Craig, Ph.D., director, UCL School of Pharmacy
- Deb Rowett, president, Australia Pharmacy Council
- Atif Shamim, lead pharmacist in community and primary care for London and South East at Health Education England
- Lucinda Maine, Ph.D., executive vice president and CEO of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy
- John Jackson, M.P.H., director and project pharmacist at the Monash University Centre for Medicine Use and Safety
- Melanie Livet, Ph.D., research assistant professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy
- Barry Bunting, APhA Foundation
- Troy Trygstad, Pharm.D., Ph.D., vice president of pharmacy programs, Community Care of North Carolina
- Mollie Scott, Pharm.D., regional associate dean, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy Asheville satellite campus
- Stephanie Kiser, director of rural health and wellness and clinical assistant professor, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy
- Kayla Waldron, adjunct assistant professor, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy
- Denise Rhoney, Pharm.D., chair of PACE and Ron and Nancy McFarlane Distinguished Professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy
- Dhiren Thakker, Ph.D., interim dean, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy
PharmAlliance Research Symposium
The Third Annual PharmAlliance Research Symposium was held Nov. 16 to 18 and focused on the issue of antimicrobial resistance, which is the ability of bacteria, viruses and parasite to stop antimicrobials, such as antibiotics, from working against them.
Bill Charman, Ph.D., dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at Monash, opened the symposium by highlighting the fact that antimicrobial resistance is an issue pharmacy needs to be engaged in from drug discovery through practice and policy.
“The only thing that makes something happen is commitment to practice, research and education,” Charman said. “I think it’s a great opportunity to get our students excited around the idea of antimicrobial resistance.”
The participants considered AMR practice and policy and pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and AMR Programs in drug discovery. They also reviewed the research and capabilities of their own institutions. Discussions focused on possible areas of collaboration, including compound libraries, novel mechanisms and targets and emerging threats.
The following individuals presented at the research symposium:
- Bob Blouin, Pharm.D., provost, UNC Chapel Hill
- Kim Brouwer, Pharm.D., Ph.D., associate dean for research and graduate education and William R. Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Professor, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy
- Chris Porter
- Bill Charman, Ph.D., dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash
- Karen McConalogue, Ph.D., manager of research programs, Monash
- Sachi Ozawa, Ph.D., associate professor, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy
- Carl Kirkpatrick, Ph.D., professor and director of the Centre for Medicine Use and Safety, Monash
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Yogini Jani, Ph.D., director, UCLH-UCL Centre for Medicines Optimisation Research and Education, UCL
- Cornelia Landersdorfer, Ph.D., senior lecturer, NHMRC Career Development Fellow, Monash
- Alan Forrest, Pharm.D., clinical professor, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy
- Gauri Rao, Pharm.D., M.S., UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy
- Oscar Della Pasqua, professor and chair of clinical pharmacology and therapeutics, UCL
- Sarah Scarry, Ph.D., research assistant professor, Center for Integrative Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy
- Kevin Frankowski, Ph.D., research assistant professor, UNC
- Shozeb Haider, Ph.D., Excellence Fellow in Computational Medicinal Chemistry, UCL
- Jess Healy, Ph.D., Excellence Fellow in Pharmaceutical and Biological Chemistry, UCL
- Phil Thompson, Ph.D., associate professor, Monash
- Martin Scanlon, Ph.D., associate professor, Monash
- Dave Morris, Ph.D., interim director of UNC Catalyst for Rare Diseases, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy
- Dhiren Thakker, Ph.D., interim dean, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy