Innovation is the cornerstone of pharmacy. As the profession goes through unprecedented change, we believe it's important to recognise those leading the way.
Nominations for the 2026 Innovative Pharmacist of the Year are now open.
Submissions close Friday 16 November 2026.
The winner must be able to attend the 2026 prize ceremony on 1 December 2026.
Nominate an innovative pharmacist
The award
This annual award recognises those in the profession who are redefining pharmacy, with a $5000 grant that goes towards the winner's professional development.
Previous winners
2025
The 2025 UTS Innovative Pharmacist of the Year Award recognised joint winners Matthew Burton and Associate Professor Sarah Dineen-Griffin and her team for innovations advancing the delivery of pharmacy services and expanding access to care.
Matthew Burton, community pharmacist and co-founder of Dragatron, led the development of a digital platform that simplifies the delivery of vaccinations, screening and other clinical services in community pharmacies. Drawing on his frontline experience, Matthew created a system that integrates with existing pharmacy software, supports secure communication and captures patient-reported experiences and outcomes. By removing per-service fees and streamlining clinical workflows and reporting, Dragatron helps pharmacies deliver professional services more efficiently.
Assoc Prof Sarah Dineen-Griffin and her multidisciplinary team led the three PATH trials, developing pharmacist-led prescribing models for uncomplicated urinary tract infections, four dermatological conditions and oral contraceptive resupply across NSW and the ACT. Developed with GPs, pharmacists and consumers, the trials combined research, training and evaluation to support safe, accessible care. Their work informed the incorporation of these services into routine community pharmacy practice in NSW and created a scalable framework to support the further development of pharmacist prescribing.
2024
The 2024 winner was Alicia Martin, whose drive to reduce harm and improve consumer health literacy inspired her idea for the TaperMate mobile app. TaperMate is designed to support people in safely tapering off medications and managing withdrawal symptoms, particularly for antidepressants and benzodiazepines. At the time of the award, the app was in early user testing and aimed to offer evidence-based guidance on medication tapering.
2022
After COVID-19 broke out in 2020, Brooke Young was quick to realise that excellent patient communication and record-keeping would be priceless information. With this in mind, she conceived and had a software platform called 'Clinicomm' built.
This innovation just won her UTS Pharmacy’s prestigious Innovative Pharmacist of the Year Award.
Read more about Brooke's innovation.
2021
Australia's first pharmacist-led telehealth service and a pharmacy-based vaccine safety surveillance system have been announced as the joint winners of the UTS Innovative Pharmacist of the Year Award.
Developed by Anna Barwick and Dr Sandra Salter respectively, these two pioneering programs demonstrate the crucial role that pharmacists play in shaping and protecting community health outcomes in Australia.
2019
After identifying a serious gap in the support for men post prostatectomy in 2013, ACT pharmacist Brad Butt established Mens' Health Downunder. Since then, the program has attracted national attention and expanded into areas such as Peyronie’s disease, erectile dysfunction and other urological issues.
2018
After campaigning for three years, Kirrily Chambers broke new ground when she became Australia’s first pharmacist to become a Credentialled Diabetes Educator (CDE) in 2009. Since then, 220 pharmacists have followed in her footsteps, with hundreds more completing graduate courses in diabetes care and education.
2017
Kayla Lee was announced the winner of the AstraZeneca 2017 UTS Innovative Pharmacist of the Year Award. Lee was inspired to make positive change in her community after the tragedy of losing her father when he took his own life. She saw a gap in the way pharmacists discussed mental health and devised Pharmafriend to fill it. Pharmafriend is a novel program that was implemented at Capital Chemist Wanniassa; it fundamentally changes the way pharmacists interact with patients.
2016
The 2016 award winner was Dr Alison Roberts of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia. Dr Roberts led the creation of the Health Destination Pharmacy (HDP) program, an evidence-based change initiative that helps pharmacies transition to a professional services business model. The HDP program is based on more than 15 years of work that began during Dr Roberts’s PhD in 2001.
2015
2015's winner was Swarup Afsar, owner of Pharmacy 777 in Western Australia for his innovative Mental Health Module in Community Pharmacy. Swarup’s innovation was around implementing a counselling service that provides; solution focused psycho-dynamic therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy and hypnotherapy. Mr Afsar said “his innovation is continuing to improve mental health experienced by a whole spectrum of patients – from newly diagnosed diabetics, sleep apnoea sufferer’s to FIFO workers and their partners, and of course people having prescriptions for anti-depressants”.
2014
The 2014 winners were the Queensland Pharmacist Immunisation Pilot (QPIP) implementation team from the Queensland branch of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, who worked with 80 pharmacies to deliver a user-pays vaccination program over a period of five months. The project saw pharmacy professionals deliver more than 11,000 vaccinations to members of the public at a fee of $25-$30 each.
2013
The 2013 medal was awarded to Joyce McSwan, a consultant pharmacist, community pharmacist and pharmacy educator who has driven exciting innovations in the field of pain management in Queensland over the last three years.
2012
The 2012 medal was awarded to David Dixon of Goldfields Fullife Pharmacy in Gympie Qld for his introduction of a highly successful Sleep Management Service which produced over $250K revenue in the first year.
Award criteria
- Originality
What new concepts or variations on existing ideas have been developed? Have these developments been achieved independently or with help of others? - Impact
Is the concept or variation a fundamental change to common practice or a minor development? Will it lead to other innovations? - Practicality
Are the innovations easily integrated into existing practice? Are they cost-effective? Do they come with risk? - Measurable benefits
Has the innovation increased revenue, efficiencies, cost savings? - Applicability
Can the innovative practice be easily adapted by other pharmacists? Can they be used internationally?