Paul Gallagher

As Head of School of Pharmacy at the RCSI (2010-2018), Paul played a key role in the reform of pharmacy education in Ireland through his role in designing and rolling out the National Pharmacy Internship Programme. He subsequently oversaw the development and implementation of a novel, integrated pharmacy curriculum in RCSI, which is an evidence-based approach to the preparation of health care professionals for practice. Paul led RCSI’s successful bid for the tender for the establishment of the Irish Institute of Pharmacy (IIOP) in RCSI whose role includes the development and implementation of a continuous professional development (CPD) system for pharmacists in Ireland.

In September 2018, Paul took up the position of Professor (Practice Track) at the National University of Singapore. He is committed to drawing on his experience and expertise in playing a role – in partnership with colleagues in the Department of Pharmacy, relevant ministries, pharmacist colleagues in acute hospitals, polyclinics, step-down settings, regulatory and pharmaceutical industry settings and students – in a review of professional pharmacy training in Singapore. He is interested in hearing the views of all stakeholders and playing his part in facilitating change that meets the unique needs of the City State.

Paul established a pharmacy and medical centre de novo in Dublin city centre (1994). This involved providing community pharmacy services to a mixed population in collaboration with general medical practitioner colleagues. He also supervised the practice and research of pre-registration pharmacy graduates. These experiences prompted his return to academic pharmacy when he joined the nascent School of Pharmacy of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) becoming Associate Professor and Head of School within 5 years.

Research interests

• Pharmacoepidemiology of antihypertensive medication adherence in older adults and the feasibility of intervening in community pharmacy
• Development and validation of explicit criteria for potentially serious alcohol-medication interactions in older adults
• The impact of health information technology on medication safety in paediatric critical care
• The role of alpha-two agonists in paediatric critical care sedation
• The evaluation of the development and mainstreaming of integrated programs of pharmacy education
• Description of research interests

My principal clinical research interest in primary care is in the development and evaluation of interventions in the community pharmacy in order to (1): Improve adherence to anti-hypertensive medication in older adults and (2): Reduce the risk associated with serious alcohol-mediation interaction in older adults. This research in primary care was funded by the Clement Archer Scholarship Program at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. My principal clinical and health services research interests are in the acute paediatric care setting and are the evaluations of (1): The role of alpha-two agonists in critical care sedation and (2): The evaluation of the impact of health information technology on medication safety. This research in tertiary care was funded by the Dean of Medicine and Health Sciences Scholarship fund, Temple Street Hospital (Ireland) and the National Children’s Research Centre (Ireland). My principal research interests in education are in the development, implementation and evaluation of integrated programs of education to entry level registration as a pharmacist. This education research has been funded by the RCSI and the Higher Education Authority (Ireland).

Education

• B.Sc. (Pharmacy) – The University of Dublin, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland (1985-1989)
• MBA – (University College London-Institute of Education) (2017-2019)
• Ph.D. – The University of Dublin, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland (1990-1994)