A pharmacist and professor in Memorial’s School of Pharmacy has been named the Canadian Pharmacists Association (CPhA) 2025 Canadian Pharmacist of the Year for her innovative and collaborative work with pharmacist-led HIV testing and care.

“I’m quite humbled to be recognized with this significant award,” said Dr. Debbie Kelly. “I love what I do because working with patients and community brings meaning to the work — I feel like we’re working on problems that real people are facing and trying to find solutions that make a difference.”

The process of being nominated is a long and involved one.

The winner of this prestigious national award must demonstrate leadership; be a major contributor to the pharmacy profession and/or the health-care system; they must embrace their scope of practice — both pushing and changing boundaries; they must be committed to diversity, equity and inclusion, affecting change for under-represented communities; and they must exemplify innovation, collaboration, and compassion, constantly evolving and garnering respect for the pharmacy profession.

Dr. Kelly epitomizes all of this and more. She has spent the majority of her decades-long career bridging gaps in the health-care system, constantly looking for ways to create equity for those patients who are often forgotten or overlooked, most notably, the HIV community, rural residents, and those without access to a family physician.

Her research with both APPROACH and THINC — largescale projects funded by major national grants — is breaking down barriers and making access to collaborative care a priority.

Far-reaching impacts

Her advocacy for under-served communities isn’t the only thing that keeps her busy. She also runs a clinic through the School of Pharmacy called the Medication Therapy Services (MTS) Clinic.

The MTS Clinic, Newfoundland and Labrador’s only pharmacist clinic, sees patients by appointment to help them understand their medications better. Health providers work with patients to ensure they are getting their medications’ full benefit.

The clinic is also a teaching centre where Memorial University pharmacy students can do mentorship placements, learn and gain experience in a real-world setting.

Dr. Kelly’s influence has been far-reaching and has benefitted the pharmacy profession locally as well as nationally. Her trailblazing work has also had international impact, with researchers from New Zealand, Croatia, Kuwait, Iran and Poland using her research findings to inform their own pharmacy practice models.

Her advocacy for pharmacists to practise to their full scope as part of a collaborative health-care team comes at a time when many Canadians are struggling to find a family physician.

She says she sees the benefit that a collaborative team of health-care providers can offer patients. And if pharmacists can work to their full scope, people can access timely care for conditions that their community pharmacist can assess and prescribe for.