Outstanding pharmacy professionals recognised in The Pharmaceutical Journal’s 2024 ‘Women to Watch’ list

A shortlist of 11 female pharmacy professionals are being celebrated for their intense dedication to improving both the pharmacy profession and patient care in The Pharmaceutical Journal’s 2024 ‘Women to Watch’ list.

The list of finalists is the final result of a nationwide search to find women in the pharmacy profession who are achieving great things and are deserving of greater recognition.

Nominees this year include a pharmacy technician, who won a grant worth £10,000 to use mobile ECG devices to detect atrial fibrillation in housebound patients; an education and training pharmacist with a strong passion for mentorship to help grow newer members of the profession; and a hospital pharmacist who has co-authored guidelines for safe and effective prescribing for transgender patients with cancer.

This is the fifth ‘Women to Watch’ list, which launched in 2020. The list aims to showcase the incredible work women are doing in pharmacy and to identify future female role models within the pharmacy profession who can inspire others.

It is designed to provide a platform to help tackle the deficit of women in senior positions in pharmacy.

An external advisory panel of eight pharmacy experts, chaired by The Pharmaceutical Journal, judged all nomination entries based on criteria such as drive, potential, influence, impact and diversity (see Box).

Diane Ashiru-Oredope, interim deputy chief scientist, said: “I continue to feel honoured, humbled and inspired as a member of the judging panel for the PJ Women to Watch awards.

“The contributions highlight the critical roles in advancing pharmacy practice, improving patient and public outcomes and driving progress in research and education. It is a true privilege to help recognise those making a meaningful impact across the UK health and social care system.  

“Congratulations to all the inspiring leaders, innovators and change-makers being celebrated. Through your dedication and expertise, you are shaping the future of pharmacy and making a profound difference in healthcare.”

Alison Tennant, chief pharmacist and clinical director at Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, said judging the awards “is one of the highlights of my year”.

“This year, it has been really encouraging to see applications from a wide variety of sectors and to see recognition for work in areas such as mental health, gender diversity and heath inequalities,” she added.

“Speaking to previous nominees, this recognition has not only meant a lot to them in terms of professional acknowledgement of their work, but also to develop further the initiatives they are passionate about. Well done to all who have made the list this year: read and be inspired!”

Carolyn Wickware, executive editor at The Pharmaceutical Journal, said: “As ever, judging the diverse range of impressive nominations that we receive through our Women to Watch campaign was both challenging and inspiring.

“Female pharmacists are clearly undertaking an incredible amount of trailblazing work in every corner of the profession. This is evident from our inspiring final list this year.”

This initiative is part of the #PJMindTheGap campaign, which aims to highlight social inequalities that exist in pharmacy and is part of a wider programme of work by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society on inclusion and diversity.

The Pharmaceutical Journal’s Women to Watch campaign will become a biannual initiative going forward, with nominations for the next list opening in 2026.

Nominations for the ‘Outstanding Pharmacy Early-Career Researcher Award’ (OPERA) are open and will close on 31 January 2025. For guidance on the nomination process and what to include in the application, please read the information here and fill out our nomination form.

Women to Watch 2024: view the full list

To find out more about how the list was formed, click here