Key Summary
- Professor Cathy McKenzie becomes the UK’s first Professor of Intensive Care Pharmacy at Southampton University
- She will lead major research on delirium, deprescribing, and polypharmacy in ICUs
- McKenzie continues key leadership roles in ESICM and as editor-in-chief of Critical Illness
Professor Cathy McKenzie has been appointed as Professor of Intensive Care Pharmacy at Southampton University.
This is the first full professorial role for a pharmacist in intensive care in the UK.
McKenzie was chosen for this historic position due to her 30-year experience at working in the ICUs.
This role aims to provide patients in intensive care with access to the latest advances in pharmacy.
She also serves as an Honorary Consultant Pharmacist in Critical Care at the University Hospital.
In her new role, McKenzie aims to lead a multiple site randomised controlled trial into intravenous thiamine for prevention and treatment for delirium in the intensive care unit, along with a focus on deprescribing and reducing polypharmacy in the ICU.
She is keen to involve pharmacy professionals in research activities.
She also intends to continue to chair the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM) pharmacology and pharmacotherapy section until the end of 2026.
Professor McKenzie will also continue as the editor in chief for Critical Illness, an e-book published by Pharmaceutical Press, a world-leading resource that seek to ensure dynamic evidenced based prescribing in intensive care.
RPS president Claire Anderson congratulated McKenzie for her new posting and said, “Professor McKenzie’s work demonstrates the significant impact pharmacy can have on patient care and the advancement of the profession through research and collaboration.”
Professor McKenzie thanked Professor Michael Grocott, Professor Roxanna Carare, Mr James Allen and Professor Diana Eccles for their support in creating this role.
“I look forward to continuing to work with the Society and supporting its transition into the Royal College of Pharmacy, to promote and encourage research among pharmacy professionals for the benefit of our patients and the wider public,” she added.
