Asra Ahmed

Asra began her career as a hospital pharmacist, gaining experience across various specialties before specialising in anticoagulation. During this time, she also completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Pharmacy Practice and an Independent Prescribing qualification. She then transitioned to primary care, where she helped set up a centralised pharmacy team in Haringey's general practices. Asra completed a Darzi fellowship in 2022, which further enhanced her leadership skills, and went on to work for North Central London Training Hub. She is passionate advocate for clinical leadership, quality improvement and innovation and joined the RPS last year as the Pharmacy Professional Engagement Lead for England.

Elen Jones

Director for Wales and England Elen was promoted to the Director for Wales role in 2019, after joining the Royal Pharmaceutical Society in 2014. Prior to this, she was the RPS Policy and Practice Lead in Wales for five years, leading on various Great Britain and Wales-specific policies, including pharmacy’s role in supporting care home resident and palliative care residents. In 2019 she was the project manager and lead author of the ten-year plan for pharmacy in Wales, Pharmacy: Delivering a Healthier Wales. Elen has worked at Well Pharmacy as a pharmacy branch manager, teacher practitioner and in a UK clinical governance role. She has also lectured at Cardiff University on a part-time basis since 2010, where she attained a fellowship of the Higher Education Academy.

Gareth Holyfield

Gareth has held several roles including Specialist Pharmacist in Health Protection, Principal Pharmacist in Pharmaceutical Public Health, Head of Pharmacy and Medicines Management and Pharmacy Manager for Boots. He was previously elected member to RPS(Wales) Board, and also on RPS Membership Committee, and various officer roles with local branch of RPS. Also, previously he was an Honorary Lecturer at Cardiff University.

Jessica Hall

I’m Jessica Hall, but call me Jess 😊 I’m People Development Manager at Well/Bestway Healthcare which means I am accountable for the learning and development activity across the business. This ranges from induction, mandatory training, management leadership development to apprenticeships and clinical programmes.

Cristina Guirola Carias De Newell

Cristina is a current Foundation Trainee Pharmacist working in both community and GP practice settings. She is also the Logistics Coordinator for the 5th IPSF EuRS conference and serves as an LEO for BPSA/IPSF, actively contributing to international pharmacy student engagement. Her leadership experience spans various roles in BPSA, IPSF, and Newcastle University, where she advocated for student representation, equality, and professional development. She has worked in different roles and different industries, such as retail, higher education, and public sector. As well as working previously as an archaeologist and professional photographer in Guatemala, her home country.

Kieran O’Brien

Kieran is a newly qualified pharmacist working in the south of England, he studied his MPharm degree at Portsmouth university, during which he pioneered changes to the course including more learning around EDI in medicine and spearheaded the relaunch of the pharmacy society. Whilst at university, he became the BPSA university liaison, soon after becoming their annual conference organiser and launched the 81st annual conference at Portsmouth university, the first time in 11 years they had hosted! Kieran moved onto to become the BPSA secretary general whilst doing his foundation training year, qualifying as pharmacist in the summer of 2024. Kieran continued his career at one of the largest teaching hospitals in the UK, and in March 2025 took over as the lead pharmacist for dispensaries, making him one of the youngest lead pharmacists in the UK

Holly Ikin

Leah Davies

At Rowlands Pharmacy, we are committed to fostering the growth and development of future Pharmacists through a structured and supportive environment. Our Foundation training program is designed to offer comprehensive, hands on learning opportunities across a wide range of pharmacy services, from dispensing to clinical consultations and patient care. We focus on continuous professional development (CPD) throughout a pharmacist's career, with the aim of nurturing well-rounded, adaptable professionals. Rowlands Pharmacy is proud to be part of the journey that shapes the future of pharmacy practice, ensuring that pharmacists have the skills they need to thrive in an ever changing healthcare landscape.

Sonal Patel

I'm Sonal, the Chief Pharmaceutical officer's Clinical fellow at the General Pharmaceutical Council . I am a clinical pharmacist with over a decade of experience leading gastroenterology and hepatology pharmacy services in secondary care. I have supported the development of treatment pathways and pharmacist-led prescribing clinics for complex conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease and viral and autoimmune hepatitis. I am a committee member of the British Hepatology Pharmacy Group, which provides leadership and support to pharmacists with an interest in hepatology across the UK. My professional interests include developing educational resources, optimising pathways, and promoting workplace inclusivity.