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Pharmacy researchers, practitioners, policymakers, knowledge users and educators attended the 2024 Summit to engage in discussions on emerging research and improving medication management and primary healthcare.

“The OPEN Summit is unique as it brings pharmacy research to life, being the place where researchers and knowledge users work together to maximize the impact that research can have on policy and patient care,” says Sherilyn Houle, associate professor at ��ݮ��Ƶ Pharmacy and OPEN executive member. “Knowledge translation and collaboration isn’t an afterthought, it’s the reason for gathering. Researchers and trainees from the University of ��ݮ��Ƶ share this aim and continue to contribute to OPEN’s efforts to ensure pharmacy professionals remain equipped and supported to deliver the highest quality patient care.” 

The 2024 OPEN Summit included presentations, poster sessions, and collaborative panel discussions highlighting the many areas of research and pharmacy practice innovation the network pursues. The University of ��ݮ��Ƶ School of Pharmacy had 12 faculty, staff and students who attended and participated in the summit, including:

• Ali Syed, PhD student at ��ݮ��Ƶ Pharmacy, participated in the 2024 summit planning committee and co-led the structured conversation table on the topic: Education scholarship
• Bincy Baby, MSc’24 at ��ݮ��Ƶ Pharmacy, co-led the structured conversation table on the topic: Technology in patient care
• Elizabeth Vernon-Wilson, research co-ordinator at ��ݮ��Ƶ Pharmacy, presented a poster on: Pharmacists' perspectives of early-stage implementation of VaxCheck, a novel adult life-course vaccine review service, in community pharmacy
• Sherilyn Houle presented a poster on: Vaccination conversations following automated age-based screening for HPV, pneumococcal, or herpes zoster vaccination status when scheduling an appointment for influenza or COVID-19 vaccination
• Ghada Elba, PhD student at ��ݮ��Ƶ Pharmacy, presented a poster on: Identifying the preferred features of medication adherence technologies (MATech) among older adults with diverse age-related abilities: A preference elicitation study
• Nancy Waite, professor and associate director of clinical education at ��ݮ��Ƶ Pharmacy and co-founding executive member of OPEN, co-led the structured conversation table on Vaccines and moderated the panel Engaging for research impact: lessons learned from the “A” team (Alberta, Australia)

Photo credit: Dana Thompson, Digital Communications and Social Media Specialist, University of Toronto

“This is the event I go to every year to learn and network, and this year did not disappoint! It amazes me the variety of research that is occurring on the expanding role of pharmacists and the different perspectives that researchers are collecting,” says Waite. “From front-line pharmacists, patients, other health care professionals, policy makers and professional associations, there is so much to learn to ensure that we effectively communicate, empower pharmacists and other health care professionals, and help patients understand these new roles and services. This was definitely a day well spent!”

Established in 2013, OPEN is a multi-institutional network of researchers and knowledge users, dedicated to improving health and the healthcare system through better medication management. OPEN’s goal is to connect knowledge users and researchers and provide robust high-quality evidence that can be used by government, patients, and healthcare providers to improve healthcare practice, and ensure the cost-effectiveness of services, and most importantly, the benefits of healthcare for patients and their families/caregivers.

OPEN co-founding executive members include: Lisa Dolovich, professor and dean at University of Toronto Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy and Nancy Waite. Executive members include: Lisa McCarthy, associate professor, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, Sherilyn Houle, and Zubin Austin, professor, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy.