UK pharmacists have been elected to an international pharmacy board and have been awarded fellowships, the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) announced last week.

Claire Anderson was elected the FIP board vice president for a one-year term in 2026/27, and Naoko Arakawa was elected as the board’s vice president of operational education.

Anderson told C+D it will be “a privilege to work with colleagues to ensure that the FIP strategy across practice, science and education is implemented to advance pharmacy globally”.

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Anderson and Arakawa will join four other pharmacists on the board from September 3, and FIP said it “looks forward to their contributions in strengthening the global pharmacy profession”.

Tracey Thornley was named one of 13 new FIP Fellows, a recognition of FIP members who have “exhibited strong leadership internationally”, “distinguished themselves in the practice of pharmacy” and “contributed to the advancement of practice, education and pharmaceutical sciences”.

She posted on LinkedIn that she was “very honoured to have received this award”.

Leaders

Anderson, Arakawa and Thornley all currently hold roles at the University of Nottingham’s (UoN) school of pharmacy.

UoN school of pharmacy head Barrie Kellam said Anderson’s election is “truly well-deserved” and “we are proud to see her continuing to shape the future of the global profession”.

Social pharmacy professor Anderson was previously the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) president from 2021-26 and is a trustee, senate and council member of the Royal College of Pharmacy.

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She was awarded FIP’s Distinguished Service Award last year in recognition of “officers or employees of FIP who have rendered exceptional and distinguished service to FIP”.

Kellam said Arakawa's new role is a "significant achievement and recognition of her international leadership in pharmacy education".

Associate professor Arakawa was the interim education secretary for FIP since August 2023, a FIP competency development global lead and previously held FIP academic pharmacy roles since 2017.

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She was the RPS’ international lead for a UK-Japan collaborative programme ten years ago.

And Kellam hailed Thornley's work for making a "significant impact on healthcare systems and patient care".

Health policy professor Thornley was a scientific advisor for the UK Health Security Agency and an English pharmacy board for the RPS from 2016-22. Previously she was a FIP community pharmacy global executive committee member.

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She has also held several senior roles with Boots, and in May the multiple announced with UoN that Thornley is co-leading the eight-month dementia research programme into boxes of objects that could help memory recall.

The board and fellowship changes were announced at FIP’s annual congress held in Montreal.

The congress saw FIP launch a declaration to support the long-term management of non-communicable diseases and admit six new pharmacy organisations to its now 157-strong membership total.