Professor Ric Day

Prof Day AM (MBBS, FRACP, MD) is internationally and nationally recognised for his research, leadership and advocacy in support of quality use of medicines (QUM). He has been deeply involved in Australia’s National Medicines Policy and the QUM component culminating in his Chairmanship of the Pharmaceutical Health and Rational Use of Medicines Committee (PHARM) for the Federal Government in 1999-2008. PHARM provided strategic advice about QUM and supported the creation of the National Prescribing Service (NPS MedicinesWise). This work has informed his approach to advocacy and health policy and interventions. His research focuses on QUM and methods of enhancing the safe use of medicines using eHealth systems and decision support tools He has published over 600 peer reviewed papers: NEJM (4), BMJ (8), Lancet (5), Arch Intern Med (3), PLoS Med (2), Ann Intern Med (1), PNAS (1), & J Am Med Inform Assoc (9), & leading rheumatology (Ann Rheum Dis (6)) and clinical pharmacology journals (Clin Pharmacol Ther (7) and Brit J Clin Pharmacol (38). He has been cited over 22,600 times. He has published > 30 papers on gout. He collaborates widely in his research. His current collaborations have lead to significant work investigating the potential of eHealth tools to increase medication safety but he has other significant areas of research. Day collaborates especially with Prof J. Westbrook,  (Health Systems and eHealth and Medication Safety Research all at Macquarie University, Sydney) and Prof Melissa Baysari and Profs. C.Maher, J.Latimer, C.Lin & colleagues (University of Sydney -Large RCTs in primary care in musculoskeletal conditions) and Professor Anthony Rodgers (George Institute for Global Health – innovative clinical trial research designs in musculoskeletal disorders). Rigorous evaluation of electronic medication systems including implementation, effectiveness in reducing medication errors, decision support and alerts and new types of errors have led to highly cited publications (>26 papers). Day’s 5 year NH&MRC Partnership Grant (1094708) investigating the potential of eHealth tools to assist patients with gout adhere to their medications, of generic importance for chronic illnesses, builds on this work. Day’s innovative work extending the patient populations that can take metformin safely and benefit from its life saving cardiac protective properties, for example in people with type II diabetes and chronic kidney disease (CKD), non-diabetic obese women, people with cardiac failure and people with hepatic function impairment has been enhanced by national collaborations and is highly cited (e.g Graham et al, Clin Pharmacokin 2011; cited > 400 times).

Prof Day is a committed undergraduate & post-graduate teacher & research mentor (two awards) focussing on Quality Use of Medicines (QUM) & translation of evidence into practice. In the last 5 years, Day’s Honours (5), Independent Learning Program medical students (10), PhDs (13), MSc (3), Advanced trainees (3) and Post-Docs (5) have made 97 presentations nationally & internationally.

Prof Day has received many awards, including Member of the Order of Australia AM, 2000 relating mostly to his focus upon QUM. He received the AMA Distinguished Service Award in 2009, became an Inaugural Life Member of the NPS in 2011 and made Fellow of Australasian Society of Clinical & Experimental Pharmacologists and Toxicologists (ASCEPT) in 2022. Prof Day was also the first non-US President of the Drug Information Association (DIA). Further, Prof Day is a practicing Rheumatologist and Clinical Pharmacologist and is an active educator and contributor to national resources such as the Australian Medicines Handbook (he was an inaugural Director) and Therapeutic Guidelines. Prof Day’s involvement with the pharmaceutical enterprise is extensive. He has held several positions including member of Medicines Australia Code of Conduct Committee since 1995; President of the national association of pharmacologists and toxicologists, ASCEPT 1995, Director of Medical Benefits Fund Australia, now BUPA, in 1998-2002, Co-chair of Medication Safety Taskforce for the Australian Safety and Quality Council (2001-3), Chair NPS R&D committee (2008-10), Ministerial Appointee of the Australian Health Informatics Committee 2003-5, Co-chair of National Electronic Medication Management reference group for the National e-Health Transition Authority and currently, Chair of Medication Expert Advisory Committee to the NSW Ministry of Health, Member NSW Early Phase Clinical Trials Committee, Member NSW Chief Scientist’s Cannabis Expert Advisory Committee, Chair NSW Cannabis Prescribers Committee, all for NSW Ministry of Health and Chair Research Advisory Committee of the National Institute of Complementary Medicine (NICM) Research Committee, University of Western Sydney 2014-17. Prof Day’s knowledge of, and connections to, the pharmaceutical industry are enhanced by his role as the senior academic advisor for Australia’s leading post-graduate degree in Drug Development – Masters of Pharmaceutical Medicine program that he cofounded at UNSW in the Faculty of Medicine.