Lung Foundation Australia is pleased to announce Debbie Rigby has been appointed as the Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Pharmacy Committee Chair.
Debbie is a longstanding member of the committee and has actively engaged with the Lung Foundation for many years, including being the face of our inhaler device technique videos. As an Advanced Practice Pharmacist with postgraduate qualifications in clinical pharmacy, geriatrics and respiratory medicine, Debbie brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the position.
She currently holds the position as a Director of NPS MedicineWise and is a past Vice-President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA). Debbie currently works in a general practice, conducts Home Medicine Reviews and provides medicines education to pharmacists, nurses, GPs and other health professionals through her company Pharmeducation.
For her passion and commitment to the pharmacy profession and quality use of medicines, Debbie has received numerous awards including PSA Pharmacist of the Year, the inaugural AACP Consultant Pharmacist of the Year, and SHPA Clinical Pharmacy Award.
We would like to say a heartfelt thank you to the outgoing Chair, Peter Guthrey for his enormous contribution to the Lung Foundation over the past decade.
Peter has been a member of the COPD Coordinating Committee for the last nine years, and was an inaugural member of the COPD Pharmacy Committee which was formed to develop online COPD training for pharmacists. He took over as Chair of the COPD Pharmacy Committee three years ago and has led this group to successfully increasing the profile of the Lung Foundation in the pharmacy community. Pharmacists are now more engaged in delivering activities to support lung health, from COPD case-finding to supporting medicine adherence and inhaler device technique. Thank you Peter for making a significant contribution to the COPD National Program.