Luke Bereznicki

Biography

Luke graduated from the University of Tasmania's Discipline of Pharmacy in 2002 with first class honours. In 2003, he was an inaugural recipient of a National Institute of Clinical Studies (now part of the NHMRC) PhD Scholarship. His research program was focused on the implementation of strategies to improve the quality use of anticoagulants in the hospital and community settings. He was appointed at the University of Tasmania's Pharmacy in 2007 and is currently Associate Professor in Pharmacy Practice. He is recognised as a leader in Australian pharmacy practice research and education, and has received a number of recent local and national awards recognising his work. He is dedicated to improving pharmacy practice in Australia through education, research and advocacy and was the 2008 Australian Young Pharmacist of the Year. In addition to his teaching and research activities, Luke is actively engaged in professional pharmacy practice; he works regularly in community pharmacy, writes regularly for the Australian Pharmacist and performs medication reviews and consultant pharmacist activities. Luke's research has featured the implementation and evaluation of pharmacist involvement in a variety of quality improvement activities in both hospital and community settings. He is now recognised as one of the leading Australian authorities in this area and frequently speaks at conferences and provides education and training for health professionals and consumers. His research has been recognised nationally and internationally, and has resulted in a number of awards, including the following: Inaugural National Institute of Clinical Studies PhD Scholarship (2004-2007) Inaugural National Prescribing Service Student Quality Use of Medicine Award (2006) Tasmanian and Australian Pearcey Award for Innovative and Pioneering Achievement and Contribution to Research and Development in Information Technology (2006) Tasmanian Young Achiever in Science and Technology (2007) Dean of Graduate Research, (University of Tasmania) Commendation for an outstanding doctoral thesis (2008) Pharmaceutical Society of Australia Young Pharmacist of the Year (2008), Faculty of Health, University of Tasmania Rising Star (2009) University of Tasmania Rising Star (2010) Luke has published over 130 original and professional peer-reviewed papers and attracted over $6.5 million in competitive funding. Luke has strong links with the pharmacy profession and is a member of the Tasmanian Branch Committee of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australian (Tasmanian Branch) and former Board Director of the organisation. He is currently a Board Director of the Australian Association of Consultant Pharmacy.

Research Interest

Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of drugs with particular interest in drug pharmacogenetics and nano-medicine/nano-toxicity Pharmacological and adverse effects of herbal medicines.