AIDS pharmacist given FIP's highest honour for practitioners

PRESS RELEASEBuenos Aires, 29 August 2016

— Dr Ana I. Martinez, a pharmacist from Puerto Rico, USA, was recognised today with the International Pharmaceutical Federation’s (FIP’s) highest honour for pharmacy practitioners: the André Bédat Award.

Dr Martinez began her career as a hospital pharmacist. She then went on to lead the Pharmaceutical Affairs Branch in the Division of AIDS (DAIDS) of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases until 2015. In this role she conceived and implemented a clinical trial model which incorporated DAIDS pharmacists in the design of clinical trials and clinical site pharmacists in the conduct of research studies. She successfully brought this model to fruition initially in the US and subsequently in Africa, Asia and Latin America. This approach led to a strong involvement of pharmacists in HIV/AIDS clinical trials.

On winning the award, Dr Martinez said: “I am deeply honoured and humbled to receive the André Bédat Award. This represents the culmination of a long career in research pharmacy. I share this award with my colleagues in all the programmes around the world in which I have been privileged to participate.”