Reidun Lisbet Skeide Kjome is a Professor at the University of Bergen, where she serves as the Head of the Centre for Pharmacy and Head of Innovation at the Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care. She has a broad research background from social pharmacy, focusing on themes such as diabetes, medication use among the elderly, pharmacy services, and interprofessional collaboration and education.
As an educator, she strives to create inclusive and safe learning environments, with the conviction that this will lead innovative, empathic and confident pharmacists who can also provide inclusive care to their patients. She is passionate about what it may entail to be an ethical university and educator in today’s world of climate crisis, increasing social inequality and growing number of displaced persons.
Lee Knifton is a Director at The Mental Health Foundation, the UK’s leading charity for research, policy and innovation. He is also co-Director of the Centre for Health Policy at Strathclyde, and co-Editor of The Journal of Public Mental Health.
Before this, Lee worked in the National Health Service in mental health, justice and prison health. He has a national role in supporting the process of NHS reform and mental health strategy development and is most interested in how we can prevent health problems whilst reducing inequalities, stigma and discrimination.
Dr. Michael McKee is a family physician with clinical and research expertise in disability health. He was born deaf and is a cochlear implant user. As a deaf physician, he is especially interested in advocating for the rights of Deaf and hard of hearing patients to obtain equitable health care including accessible communication. His research focus includes health disparities for individuals with various disabilities, health information accessibility, health literacy, and telemedicine applications.
Dr. McKee graduated from the University of Florida College of Medicine. He completed his family medicine residency at the University of South Carolina Department of Family Medicine & Preventive Medicine at Palmetto Health. He completed his preventive cardiology fellowship at University of Rochester. He is a full Professor at the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Michigan/Michigan Medicine.
In addition to previously serving on the board of the Association of Medical Professionals with Hearing Losses (AMPHL), he is also currently an appointed member of the Roundtable on Health Literacy of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. He is the director for the MDisability and the Deaf Health Clinic. He is also a co-director for the Center for Disability Health & Wellness.
Irene Oldfather is Director at the ALLIANCE leading on Strategic Partnerships and Engagement for Woman’s Health Plan, Mesh, Carer Voices, National Collaborative, Medicines, and Mental Health Programmes. Her work extends to Europe where she is currently chair of European Patient Academy (EUPATI) Scotland National Liaison Team (NLT), Vice-Chair of U.K. Domestic Advisory Group on Trade and Cooperation with EU, Convenor of the U.K. Domestic Advisory Group Sub Group on issues affecting Nations and Regions and Chair of Scottish Advisory Group on Europe (SAFE).
As a Member of the Scottish Parliament (1999-2011), Irene set up and chaired the Cross Party Group on Alzheimer’s and Dementia which drafted and agreed the Charter of Rights for People with Dementia and their Carers. She also chaired the European and External Relations Committee for most of her 12year term.
She actively campaigns on the rights of older people and was the first ever Member of the Scottish Parliament to be nominated and shortlisted for Dod’s 2009 UK Parliamentary Award for Services to Older People. Irene recently stood down as Chair of National Dementia Carers Action Network (NDCAN) having served as Chair for four years and was recently shortlisted for Scottish Public Service award in category of Leadership.
Irene was educated at Strathclyde University, where she obtained an Honours degree in Politics and a post graduate MSc by Research. She was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in 2024.
Dr. Tejal Patel is a clinical associate professor at the University of Waterloo (UW) School of Pharmacy and Schlegel Specialist in Medication Management and Aging with the Schlegel-UW Research Institute of Aging. Dr. Patel obtained her Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Pharmacy degrees from the University of Kentucky and completed a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Pharmacokinetics and Neurology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has practiced for over 25 years as a pharmacist focusing on the pharmacotherapeutic management of neurological disorders. In 2008, Dr. Patel established the role of a pharmacist in an interdisciplinary, primary care-based memory clinic and has trained over 120 pharmacists by modeling the medication review process, identifying, and addressing medication related problems in persons with cognitive impairment.
In 2016, she was recognized with the Patient Care Achievement Award in Specialty Practice by the Canadian Pharmacists Association. Dr. Patel’s research centers on medication use by older adults, specifically addressing the design and role of technology in management of medications in the home and personalization of medication adherence aids based on person specific abilities. Outside of work, Dr. Patel enjoys reading and watching thrillers and hiking in warm, sunny climates!
Janine Marie Traulsen has a Ph.D. in Sociology from Lund University in Sweden. She has an extensive career in teaching and research within the field of Social Pharmacy, having served as Associate Professor for over 30 years at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Department of Pharmacy, at the University of Copenhagen.
She now works part-time as an External Lecturer, organizing and teaching post-graduate courses in pharmaceutical policy, market access for pharmaceutical products and digital health for professionals in both the public and private sectors. Her current research focuses on examining future healthcare trends, particularly the development and impact of hospital-at-home initiatives and their significance for pharmacies and the pharmacy profession.