Pharmacy researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and students from across Ontario gathered at the University of Toronto on October 11 to share new and emerging research and celebrate a key milestone.
Launched in 2013, the Ontario Pharmacy Evidence Network (OPEN) became the first multi-institutional, pharmacy-focused research network in the province. Ten years later, OPEN continues to be a driver of widespread system change, focused on improving the quality of patient care through medication management and pharmacy practice research.
The 2023 OPEN Summit included presentations, poster sessions, and collaborative panel discussions highlighting the many areas of research and practice innovation the network pursues.
“What we have achieved as a network is considerable because, not only have we helped forge collaboration among researchers, but we have also provided space for policy makers to learn more about our research,” said Lisa Dolovich, professor and dean at University of Toronto Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy and a co-founding executive member of OPEN. “By building these relationships and creating opportunities for connection, we enabled better policy maker and researcher dialogue, which is fundamental to realizing change.”
One standout example of change is the strong and growing role pharmacy has in the immunization space. OPEN’s first funding in 2013 from the Government of Ontario supported research that demonstrated the value of pharmacists-as-immunizers.
To see now the amazing role both pharmacists and pharmacy technicians play in improving vaccine uptake and to know that OPEN’s research and collaboration with public health was part of that change, is incredibly rewarding.
Professor Waite is also a co-founding executive member of OPEN and has provided leadership for the initiative as part of the OPEN Executive group. This leadership group enables the network’s research work and knowledge translation efforts including in-person and virtual events, coordinating the OPEN Knowledge User Advisory Committee, and encouraging collaboration across the network. Reflective of the collaborative, multi-institutional approach of the network, OPEN Executive members also include Lisa McCarthy, associate professor, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, Sherilyn Houle, associate professor at the University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy, and Zubin Austin, professor, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy.
Read more on OPEN’s 10 year anniversary.
Image credit: Steve Southon, Digital Communications and Social Media Specialist, University of Toronto