Waterloo Pharmacy's professor Dr. Kelly Grindrod and alum Dr. Naushin Hooda (Rx2019) won awards from Canada's leading professional journal for pharmacists, Pharmacy Practice + Business.
Raise Your Voice Award 2023: Dr. Kelly Grindrod
Dr. Kelly Grindrod
Dr. Grindrod is an associate professor at the University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy. Dr. Grindrod completed her BScPharm at the University of Alberta and a hospital residency at the London Health Sciences Centre. She also completed a PharmD, MSc and a post-doctoral fellowship and the University of British Columbia. She has been at the University of Waterloo since 2011, where she chairs the Clinical Research Ethics Board and is a university senator. Her research explores how emerging technologies can improve the use of medications in the community. She is the founder and lead of computer-based education platform Pharmacy5in5.ca, which includes several videos and infographics for pharmacy practice.
I try to take general approaches to how pharmacists make decisions and try to work with the public to figure out what they want to know.
Rising Star Award 2023: Dr. Naushin Hooda (Rx2019)
Dr. Naushin Hooda currently serves as the Provincial Pharmacy Education & Residency Coordinator at BC Cancer, and Clinical Instructor at the University of British Columbia. She graduated from the Doctor of Pharmacy program at the University of Waterloo in 2019 and went on to complete an Industrial Pharmacy Residency in Medical Affairs and Vaccine Epidemiology/Modeling at University of Toronto/Sanofi Pasteur in 2020. Since graduating, she also completed a Masters of Public Health with a concentration in Epidemiology and Biostatistics and graduate diploma in pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She has worked as a hospital pharmacist in multiple areas including critical care, antimicrobial stewardship, medication safety, medication use evaluation, and pharmaceutical supply chain and was awarded the 2023 New Hospital Pharmacy Practitioner Award by the Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists – BC Branch.
What do you hope to see for the future of pharmacy?
Pharmacists possess untapped potential within the healthcare system, which represents an opportunity to engage them as key allies in disease management. My hope for the future of pharmacy is to live in a healthcare system that prioritizes patient-centric care, patient empowerment, innovation, and accessibility, with pharmacy as a key partner in the framework. As healthcare evolves, I hope to see pharmacy at the forefront of continuing to provide personalized and accessible healthcare solutions. In my world of oncology pharmacy, this could involve advancements in pharmacogenomics, where medications are tailored to individuals based on their genetic makeup, leading to more effective treatments with fewer side effects. I also envision increased integration of technology, such as telepharmacy and digital health platforms, to make pharmacy services more convenient and widely available, especially in underserved areas. Additionally, I hope for more creative collaborations between pharmacists and other healthcare providers to optimize patient care and outcomes – I am always impressed to see other trailblazers in pharmacy develop innovative solutions to some of healthcare’s toughest challenges.
Dr. Naushin Hooda (Rx2019)
I am optimistic that the future of pharmacy is a future of opportunity.