Priscilla Lynch is an award-winning medical and health journalist with almost 20 years experience covering the sector. She is currently Clinical Editor of the Medical Independent and Editor of Update clinical journals, and a contributor to Medscape UK. She also occasionally freelances for a number of national newspapers and is a regular contributor on healthcare news to the Last Word on Today FM, RTE 1’s Drivetime and the Late Debate, the Hard Shoulder on Newstalk, and other radio and TV shows. Priscilla has a specialist interest in national and international healthcare policy, medical politics, waiting lists, and medical innovation. @priscillalynch

Adam has worked in community pharmacy in Scotland for his whole professional career, running pharmacies in a wide variety of settings across the country for a large CCA company before joining Community Pharmacy Scotland in 2016 as Policy and Development Pharmacist, a role he still enjoys today. Adam has been involved in the establishment and ongoing development of various national services, including NHS Pharmacy First Scotland and the varied components of the Public Health Service delivered through Scotland’s network of 1,259 community pharmacies.

Lars-Åke Söderlund has been Vice President of the Swedish Pharmaceutical Society and has occupied various executive positions within Apoteket AB (Sweden), most recently as Head of National Clients and New Business. Currently he is working as the Executive Advisor to Apoteket (a government owned pharmacy chain).
Lars-Åke Söderlund has also been President of the National Swedish project “Check My Medicines” during 2012-2020 (https://bit.ly/3X80dTX) a project that has significantly improved the medical treatment of seniors in Sweden, as well as empowered them to become the ‘ambassadors’ of their own health. The project is considered as one of the most successful health related projects in Sweden, related to elderly and primary healthcare.
Mr. Söderlund holds various positions in the national and international health sector. He has annually been lecturing pharmacy students in several countries since 2008.

Tony O’Brien is a leading voice in healthcare strategy and is former Director General for the Health Service Executive (HSE). He has extensive experience providing healthcare and strategic counsel on several prominent boards. Mr O’Brien is currently a Columnist with The Business Post, specialising in health-related topics.

Mr O’Brien is current chair at Safetynet Primary Care, he lectures on Health Strategy with the School of Medicine for Trinity, and is currently a NED for Evofem Biosciences; Council Member and Associate Faculty at the IMI; and Chairman of the Board of St. Paul’s Child and Family Centre.

Rachel Dungan MPSI, MCC, known as ‘The Pharmacist Coach,’ is a leading voice in fostering a culture of coaching, wellbeing, and leadership within the pharmacy profession. With expertise as an Irish pharmacist and a Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach, Rachel empowers conscious leaders to build thriving businesses that make a positive impact. As an award-winning Master Certified Coach (MCC), she brings international experience in personal, professional, and business growth, across various industries. Rachel’s involvement in the FIP’s “Have your say on Positive Practice” initiative reflects her commitment to shaping the future of community pharmacy and promoting professional sustainability.

Jonathon Morrisey is the Chair of the IPU’s Community Pharmacy Committee. He has embraced point of care testing in the community pharmacy setting with a special interest in the management of cholesterol, asthma, weight management, hypertension (BP), smoking cessation and many others.
He is a prominent pharmacy vaccinator, vaccinating over 10,000 adults and children since vaccination commenced in pharmacy.
Morrissey is most noted for his work in pharmacy value added services highlighting full use of pharmacy consultation rooms.
He publicly speaks on health topics for all aspects of the medical and pharmacy industry and is active on the national committees working on eHealth and ePrescribing.

Jim Gavin is best known as the most successful manager in the history of Gaelic Football, overseeing the Dublin Men’s Senior Team’s record five All-Ireland titles in a row.
He is also a rising authority on leadership and motivation whose ideas are earning praise from organisations far beyond the football field. Jim’s approach is helping people perform at their best, play to their strengths, and become resilient, creative and responsive under pressure.
What sets Jim apart is the sources of his ideas: his experience in the military, including peace-keeping service overseas; his profession in aviation; and his extensive study of Eastern and Western philosophical traditions, from which he adapts and applies principles that inspire people to perform at their best.

Dermot Twomey was elected as President to the IPU by the Executive Committee and took up the position in June 2021. Dermot is a director of Cloyne Pharmacy & a past Vice-President and Treasurer of the Irish Pharmacy Union, former Chairman to the Pharmacy Contractors’ Committee, former board member of the ICCPE and a former Chairman of the Joint Consultative Group of the IPU, which meets the HSE on a regular basis.

He has served on the IT steering group of the IPU and on the exam review board of the IIOP, as well as helping to develop practice review for implementation in community pharmacy in Ireland. Mr Twomey graduated with a first-class honours degree from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow in 1995. He opened the first community pharmacy-based warfarin clinic in Ireland in early 2010.

Joanne Kissane is the Registrar and Chief Officer of the PSI, having commenced in the role in January 2023. Prior to joining the PSI, she was the Director and National Coordinator for APPEL, a joint office of the three Schools of Pharmacy in Ireland, which manages the student experiential learning placements for the integrated Masters degree programmes in pharmacy. She has worked in community pharmacy as a practising pharmacist, and she was the superintendent pharmacist for Lloyds Pharmacy for seven years, and subsequently held the role of Head of Operational Excellence for the organisation.

Ms Kissane was a member of the PSI Council for seven year and chaired several PSI committees during this time and served two years as PSI President.

In the wake of the 96 Community Pharmacy Contractor Agreement (CPCA) with the Department of Health, Kate Mulvenna joined the North Eastern Health Board as a Primary Care Pharmacist recruited to liaise with Pharmacy Contractors and assist with the implementation of the new CPCA. Further to the introduction of the Health Service Executive and the dissolution of the Health Boards, she moved to a national post in 2006 with the National Contracts Office for a number of years liaising with the Irish Pharmacy Union, the Irish Medical Organisation and the respective Regulators.
When budgetary responsibility for Schemes was consolidated nationally to the Primary Care Reimbursement Service (PCRS) in 2011, Ms Mulvenna transferred as Head of Pharmacy Function with responsibilities across the Administration of Schemes, Contractor Management and Probity until retirement in September 2022.

Jack is a third generation community pharmacist, with his own pharmacy, in Castleisland, the gateway to Kerry. As a lifelong IPU member, he has served on multiple IPU committees and has represented the Union at various levels, nationally and internationally. His other major hat is chairing the Kerry Hospice Foundation fundraising committee, reducing his time for anything approaching acceptable golf to a distant dream.

A columnist for the IPU review for thirty years, latterly as editor, he focuses on the real world issues that face the profession daily. With a strong interest in technology, he has held positions on HIQA eHealth advisory committees as well as an expert advisor for NSAI, the national standards body.