Celebrating World Pharmacists Day: Clinigen’s ‘Love Your Pharmacist Awards’ honour the unsung heroes of patient care across Europe
LONDON, UK - 25 September 2025:
In celebration of World Pharmacists Day, Clinigen, the global pathfinder accelerating patient access to critical medicines across the lifecycle, today celebrates the winners and finalists of its fourth annual Love Your Pharmacists Awards (LYPA). Through three categories – Pharmacist of the Year, Lifetime Achievement Award, and Team of the Year – these awards spotlight hospital pharmacists across Europe who demonstrate exceptional dedication and innovation in ensuring patients can access the medicines they need.
Clinigen is proud to announce this year’s exemplary winners from a competitive group of nominations from 23 countries across Europe that demonstrate the range of challenges hospital pharmacists experience. The winners and finalists have a diverse array of experiences across the UK’s evolving NHS, Portugal, and Ukraine.
As a partner to over 1,000 pharmaceutical and biotech companies globally, including 9 of the world’s top 10 pharma companies, Clinigen itself works with over 20,000 healthcare providers (HCPs) across hospitals and institutes, and witnesses firsthand the invaluable contributions of pharmacists. The commitment of pharmacists extends to supporting the entire healthcare ecosystem, and the Love Your Pharmacist Awards were born from a profound respect for the vital role pharmacists, and their teams, play in ensuring patients receive the best possible quality of care.
Pharmacist of the Year – Joanne Crook, Consultant Pharmacist, Paediatrics at King’s College Hospital, UK
Joanne Crook has been selected as the LYPA Pharmacist of the Year for her inspirational leadership and influence in the field of paediatric pharmacy. She is also celebrated for her research on improving adherence in paediatric liver transplant patients.
Recognising her achievement, Jo says that she gets up every morning for her patients. She added, “The reason I go to work is because I know that my knowledge can help make a difference in people’s lives. It’s important to have a medicine that works, a medicine that really makes a difference. A lot of the patients I’ve dealt with are children, and if you’ve ever had children, you know how it feels to sleep through the night knowing they’re okay. This award is an important opportunity to showcase the work that pharmacists do for people’s lives.”
Lifetime Achievement Award – Alison Tennant, Chief Pharmacist and Clinical Director, Medicine Division Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust
Alison Tennant has been awarded the LYPA Lifetime Achievement Award for her diverse experiences during her 37 years of work in hospital pharmacy. Beyond her achievements, Alison is known for spreading her wisdom and kindness across the teams and boards she’s been a part of.
In response to the award, Alison recognised the teams she has worked with and how her peers have developed with the industry. She comments, “I’ve seen pharmacy evolve over the years from sticking labels on prescriptions, to now where we’re 3D printing medicine. The technical side of things has changed immensely, and pharmacists have had to adjust to support the patients and their families, continuing to get them medicine, safely. I am just a small cog in this machine; I’m not a brilliant ideas person, but I work with people who are. I wouldn’t be here without the people who have helped me become the pharmacist I am today. People are what have kept me motivated throughout my career.”
Team of the Year – Evelina London Children’s Hospital
The Evelina London Children’s Hospital’s pharmacy team was selected for the LYPA Team of the Year Award for the vital role it plays in ensuring safe, precise, and compassionate care for young patients, as well as its family-centric approach. The team is expert in paediatric pharmaceutical care, identifying and prescribing alternative medicines where needed and working alongside caregivers to outline medication plans clearly for children and families. Sian Gaze, Lead Pharmacist for medicines and neonatology cites flexibility and adaptability as key characteristics of a close team.
Nanna Christiansen, Chief Children’s Pharmacist at Evelina and team lead adds, “This team works extremely hard to deliver good care to our patients and we often go that extra mile, so to be recognised for that as a team is really quite special. We all work in the NHS and in these roles because we care about patients and the impact we have, so to know you have a team around you that feels the same way is why I actually really like getting up in the morning. If there is anything I could say to my team it’s a big thank you for bringing your ideas to the table. And a big thank you for helping us to make them a reality.”
Julie Gosper, Pharmacist and SVP of Europe, US & ROW, said, “This year’s awards saw entries of extremely high calibre, reflecting the immense talent and dedication within the hospital pharmacy community. As a trained hospital pharmacist, I understand the unique challenges these professionals face – sitting at the connection point between patients, multidisciplinary teams and the complex pharmaceutical supply chain and landscape; the submissions we received show the variety of obstacles that can impact treatment access every day. These hospital pharmacists and their teams work tirelessly behind the scenes to provide treatments to make possible the best outcomes for patients.”
LYPA 2025 Highly Commended
- Highly Commended for Pharmacist of the Year goes to Antonio Mendes, Hospital Pharmacist at the Centro Hospitalar Universitário de Santo António in Portugal for his measurable economic impact and clinical innovation.
- Highly Commended for the Lifetime Achievement Award is granted to Tetiana Kolodii, Pharmacist at the Municipal Health Depository Kharkiv Regional Clinical Infectious Diseases Hospital in Ukraine, for her courage and bravery to continue providing access to medicines through extreme circumstances.
- Highly Commended Team of the Year goes to the PICU Pharmacist Team at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, for its outstanding compassion and dedication to patient care in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit.
For more details on the impactful stories of the Clinigen Love Your Pharmacist Award 2025 winners and highly commended nominees please visit www.loveyourpharmacist.com
The company will be sharing more stories about the winners over the coming month on their social media channels. Follow Clinigen’s channels on 25 September as we join the global conversation for #WorldPharmacistsDay and celebrate the LYPA 2025 winners.
Please note that under the terms and conditions associated with the LYPA, among other terms:
- The Awards do not constitute an inducement to recommend and/or prescribe, purchase, supply, sell or administer any medicine.
- The Awards will comprise of a certificate or similar. No gifts for personal benefit or cash or cash equivalent will be awarded, and the Award cannot be sold or transferred in any circumstances.
Contact details
Brett Dunbar, Global Communications Manager
media@clinigengroup.com
Fight or Flight on behalf of Clinigen
clinigen@fightorflight.com
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Notes to Editors
More information about the winners:
Pharmacist of the Year – Joanne Crook, Consultant Pharmacist, Paediatrics at King’s College Hospital, UK
Joanne Crook has been selected as the LYPA Pharmacist of the Year for her inspirational leadership and influence in the field of paediatric pharmacy. Joanne led the implementation of innovative treatments for children with progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis (PDIC) and Alagille syndrome, providing hope for families with limited treatment options. She also initiated a paediatric homecare service to ensure children have timely access to essential medications closer to home.
Joanne is also celebrated for her research on improving adherence in paediatric liver transplant patients. She also proved her forward-thinking approach through her work on the paediatric electronic prescribing system. Working across several leading tertiary centres, Joanne has both pioneered several initiatives optimising patient outcomes and supported pharmacists on their journey toward advanced and consultant-level practices.
Lifetime Achievement Award – Alison Tennant, Chief Pharmacist and Clinical Director, Medicine Division Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust
Alison Tennant has been awarded the LYPA Lifetime Achievement Award for her diverse experiences during her 37 years of work in hospital pharmacy. In four decades, among her achievements is leading the primary care pharmacy team and managed the primary care drug expenditure at Dudley PCT, following which she was appointed the pharmacist advisor for the framework of West Midlands Ethical Commissioning Policies. Alison has also taken part in broader NHS management, serving as a board member of the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and then working on the NHS England (NHSE) specialised commissioning team.
She was then appointed the role of Director of Pharmacy at the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust as it expanded to incorporate a group of GP practices. Alison is now the chair of the Chief Paediatrics Pharmacists Group at Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Trust, where she works to mentor pharmacists and brings together her knowledge from across services and specialties to improve efficiencies and workflows in patient access to medicine. Beyond her achievements, Alison is known for spreading her wisdom and kindness across the teams and boards she’s been a part of.
Team of the Year – Evelina London Children’s Hospital
The Evelina London Children’s Hospital’s pharmacy team was selected for the LYPA Team of the Year Award for the vital role it plays in ensuring safe, precise, and compassionate care for young patients, as well as its family-centric approach. The team is expert in paediatric pharmaceutical care, identifying and prescribing alternative medicines where needed and working alongside caregivers to outline medication plans clearly for children and families. With Chief Pharmacist Nanna Christiansen at the helm, the team works in close collaboration with each other and other stakeholders in the hospital to ensure their objectives are being met at each checkpoint.
The pharmacy team has contributed to the wider industry by publishing peer-reviewed journals and presenting work at national and international conferences to inspire the delivery of pharmaceutical input. The hospital was one of the first in the UK to adopt standard concentration IV infusions across paediatric wards, theatres and critical care areas, and the team played an industry role in developing the standard concentrations to be used. The pharmacists also participate in ward rounds, monitor and manage narrow therapeutic agents and play a central role in the transitions of care to ensure continuity and accuracy.
LYPA celebrates the unsung heroes of patient care
This year’s announcement coincides with World Pharmacists Day, a global initiative led by the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) to recognise the vital role pharmacists play in improving health outcomes. Clinigen’s LYPA programme echoes this mission by spotlighting hospital pharmacists who go above and beyond to ensure patients receive the medicines they need.
Hospital pharmacists play a vital role in helping patients access the medicines they need – but their efforts are often overlooked. With a projected global shortfall of 11 million health workers by 2030, according to the World Health Organization, the pressure on pharmacists is only set to grow. The LYPA awards aim to celebrate the individuals going above and beyond to close this access gap, often in the face of complex regulatory, logistical or geographical barriers.
Clinigen started the LYPA in 2020 to highlight the untold stories of hospital pharmacists, who are integral to ensuring patients receive the correct medication, manage complex treatment plans, and contribute to overall patient well-being. Clinigen itself works with over 20,000 healthcare professionals (HCPs) across hospitals and institutes who spend a considerable portion of their time sourcing niche and hard-to-find medicines. As well as providing advice on alternate medicines during drug shortages, pharmacists provide crucial links to Managed Access Programs (MAPs) where there is often urgent unmet patient need.
As a partner to over 1000 pharmaceutical and biotech companies, including 9 of the world’s top 10 pharma companies globally, every day Clinigen witnesses firsthand the invaluable contributions of hospital pharmacists. Their commitment extends to supporting the entire healthcare ecosystem, and the Love Your Pharmacist Awards were born from a profound respect for the vital role hospital pharmacists play in driving better patient outcomes.
About Clinigen
Clinigen is a global pharmaceutical services company trusted by over 1,000 pharma and biotech partners. With more than 35 years of experience, we accelerate access to critical medicines at every stage of the product lifecycle. As pathfinders, our team of over 1,100 specialists expertly navigate the complexities of clinical trial supply, early access programs, regulatory services, and long-term commercialisation through both licensed and unlicensed pathways. Operating across five continents, we deliver innovative solutions to over 130 countries each year. Whatever the challenge, we find a way.
Explore our services at www.clinigen.com