Receiving the 2025 ASCEPT-AMH Felix Bochner Award was a significant milestone in my career, providing a unique opportunity to build international collaborations, showcase Australian medication safety research, and establish national and international collaborations.
The Award supported a structured international engagement program centred on my MRFF-funded research program focused on co-designed medication management resources for people living with dementia and their carers. In April 2026, I was invited to visit Sorbonne University and presented my work at the Brain Institute Paris (Institut du Cerveau), where I shared findings from Australia’s first co-designed medication literacy resources developed to support medication management across care settings. The visit provided an opportunity to engage with international experts in dementia, ageing and health services research, while strengthening my understanding of how co-design approaches can be applied across different healthcare systems.
Following my visit to Sorbonne University, I presented my research on co-designed medication management resources at the 2026 Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI) Conference. The conference also provided a valuable opportunity to engage directly with people with lived experience of dementia, reinforcing the central role of consumer partnership in developing meaningful and implementable solutions. This experience further strengthened my commitment to co-design and consumer engagement, which has informed my ASCEPT board consumer and community engagement portfolio.
The Award generated substantial collaboration opportunities. Through networking at ADI conference, I established new links with researchers from La Trobe University, leading to the development and submission of a collaborative 2026 MRFF Early to Mid-Career Researcher Grant application. This collaboration broadened my research network beyond pharmacy and dementia care and positioned me within an emerging multidisciplinary team focused on addressing healthcare challenges experienced by older people living with dementia.
The international visibility generated by the Award also resulted in invitations from leading international researchers. Following ADI, I was invited by Professor David Alldred from the University of Leeds School of Medicine to discuss opportunities for collaboration in medication safety research in aged care. Our discussions focused on comparing Australian and UK approaches to medication safety, quality use of medicines, and implementation of pharmacist-led interventions in aged care settings. These discussions have progressed into an ongoing collaboration and the development of a joint manuscript exploring international perspectives on medication safety in older adults living in residential aged care facilities.
Building on this momentum, the Award also supported my attendance at the World Congress of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology (WCP 2026), where I delivered an oral presentation and further expanded my international profile within pharmacology and health services research. The congress created opportunities to discuss the application of co-design methodologies within clinical pharmacology and explore future multidisciplinary collaborations focused on medication safety and improving outcomes for older people. The Award also contributed to supporting my PhD student’s participation in WCP, further strengthening research capacity-building within my team.
Overall, the ASCEPT-AMH Felix Bochner Award provided far more than travel funding. It accelerated the international reach of my research program, facilitated collaborations that have already resulted in new funding applications, and positioned me to further contribute to ASCEPT’s mission of advancing excellence, innovation and collaboration in clinical pharmacology and therapeutics. I am grateful for AMH and ASCEPT for their investment in early and mid-career researchers and for providing opportunities that foster excellence, innovation and international collaboration in clinical pharmacology and therapeutics.
