Gray to Receive ASHP's Donald E. Francke Medal

Andrew Lofts Gray, B.Pharm., M.Sc. (Pharm), FPS, FFIP, Senior Lecturer in the Division of Pharmacology, Discipline of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the School of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa, is the recipient of ASHP’s 2014 Donald E. Francke Medal. Mr. Gray will receive the award and present a lecture on Wednesday, December 10, during a luncheon at the association’s 49th Midyear Clinical Meeting in Anaheim, CA.

Mr. Gray’s work has had a significant impact on the development and implementation of national medicine policies, rational medicine use, and the application of antiretroviral therapy in resource-constrained settings. He is actively involved in the development and assessment of medicines and other health-related law in South Africa. He has been a member of the Names and Scheduling Expert Committee of the South African Medicines Control Council since 2000 and was appointed to the National Essential Medicines List Committee in 2012. He is a Member of the World Health Organization's Expert Panel on Drug Policies and Management and has served as a member, rapporteur, and co-chairperson of the Expert Committee on the Selection and Use of Essential Medicines.

A past national president of the South African Association of Hospital and Institutional Pharmacists, Mr. Gray also has a long and distinguished record of service in the Hospital Pharmacy Section and the Board of Pharmaceutical Practice of the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP). He served as vice president (Africa) of the Hospital Pharmacy Section (2001-2006) and as president of the Hospital Pharmacy Section (2007-2010). Mr. Gray also served as a member of the FIP Executive Committee of the Board of Pharmaceutical Practice, chairman of the Board of Pharmaceutical Practice, and member of the Bureau and Council.

Widely published, he is associate editor of the South African Pharmaceutical Journal, section editor of the Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice, and serves on the international editorial advisory boards of the International Journal of Clinical Pharmacy, and the GaBI Journal.

“Mr. Gray’s work is an inspiring example of the powerful ways that pharmacists can impact public policy on behalf of patients both domestically and abroad,” said ASHP President Christene M. Jolowsky, M.S., RPh., FASHP.

The Francke Medal was established by the ASHP to honor individuals who have made significant contributions to international pharmacy practice. Francke, a key leader of ASHP in its formative years, was noted for his longtime service to American and international pharmacy. He served as editor of the American Journal of Hospital Pharmacy for 22 years and was the first American vice president of FIP’s Section of Hospital Pharmacists.

About ASHP

ASHP represents pharmacists who serve as patient care providers in acute and ambulatory settings. The organization’s more than 40,000 members include pharmacists, student pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. For over 70 years, ASHP has been on the forefront of efforts to improve medication use and enhance patient safety. For more information about the wide array of ASHP activities and the many ways in which pharmacists advance healthcare, visit ASHP’s website, www.ashp.org, or its consumer website, www.safemedication.com. - See more at: http://www.ashp.org/menu/AboutUs/ForPress/PressReleases/PressRelease.aspx?id=834#sthash.AR7Y3OvK.dpuf