Maltese academic pharmacist receives international fellowship

Lilian M. Azzopardi, Professor of Pharmacy and head of Department of Pharmacy at the University of Malta received the International Pharmaceutical Federation Fellowship during the 77th World Congress of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences held in Seoul, Republic of Korea. FIP was founded in 1912 in The Hague and represents over three million experts in medicines use and their responsible use.

Professor Azzopardi was nominated for the FIP Fellowship for her strong international leadership and for her distinguished contribution to the advancement of pharmaceutical practice. Professor Azzopardi studied pharmacy and read for the Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy degrees at the University of Malta. She developed a quality system for professional standards in community pharmacy which has been adopted in different countries internationally.

She has spearheaded major developments in pharmacy education within the University of Malta including the re-design of pharmacy studies leading to a Master of Pharmacy degree, the development of a degree in Pharmaceutical Technology to meet the needs of the pharmaceutical industry and the development of a postgraduate doctorate in pharmacy offered by the University of Malta in collaboration with the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Professor Azzopardi has been invited as an external examiner for postgraduate degrees in different schools of pharmacy. Her research portfolio is in the area of pharmacy quality systems and pharmacist interventions in clinical settings.

She has received research awards by the International Pharmaceutical Federation and the European Society of Clinical Pharmacy and was recognised by the International Association for Pharmaceutical Technology. She served as an ad-interim director and a member of the Publications Committee for the European Society of Clinical Pharmacy. She was co-chair of the working group of the FIP Nanjing Statements on Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Education launched in 2016.

Professor Azzopardi is currently the president of the European Association of Faculties of Pharmacy.