Lori MacCullum, a pharmacist, knowledge mobilizer and leader in diabetes education, has made leaps and bounds in patient care. Her work aims to empower pharmacists and help increase their engagement with people living with diabetes.

Having earned her Bachelors of Science in Pharmacy from Dalhousie University and then her Doctorate in Pharmacy from the University of Toronto, MacCullum became a clinical pharmacy specialist at St. Michael’s Hospital in the Diabetes Comprehensive Care program working in the community, long-term care and hospital pharmacy. Through her experience caring for patients living with diabetes and chronic kidney diseases, she realized the need for pharmacists to provide a more hands-on approach with diabetes medication management. She founded the Canadian Diabetes Pharmacists Network (which closed operations in December 2020) at the Banting and Best Diabetes Centre where it provided pharmacists with educational resources and tools to facilitate and enhance their diabetes therapeutic knowledge and care.

Patients with diabetes interact with pharmacists more than any other healthcare specialist, therefore it is crucial that pharmacists have a go-to resource when caring for them. As Editor-in-Chief, MacCullum created the ‘Guidebook on Diabetes Management: Helping Patients Reach Treatment Goals’ to help pharmacists and other healthcare practitioners implement therapeutic recommendations. MacCullum also included tips for teaching patients how to manage side effects through motivational interviews. This guidebook is referenced by over 6000 healthcare providers, is used by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-term Care and is an important and reliant resource to help strengthen the patient-pharmacist relationship.

Currently, MacCullum’s research is focused on knowledge translation to improve how patients receive information and how pharmacists communicate with their patients. As the Program Director at the Banting and Best Diabetes Centre, she is researching innovative tools to educate, engage and empower patients through multimedia. These tools are being utilized by organizations such as the Heart and Stroke Foundation, Centre for Innovation in Complex Care, and the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-term Care. In addition, MacCullum is evaluating the MedsCheck Diabetes program in Ontario and identifying methods to improve pharmacists follow-ups with their patients in the community.

MacCullum wears many hats all of which are centered on improving the lives of people living with diabetes through the pharmacist. She is an Assistant Professor at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto, the Sun Life Financial Professor in Wellness and Diabetes Education, and was the co-author of the 2008 and 2013 Canadian Diabetes Association Clinical Practice Guidelines. She also discusses the role of pharmacists and diabetes care to many pharmacy and diabetes organizations.

Through her various roles, MacCullum’s goal is to strengthen the relationship that patients have with their pharmacist. In doing so, she helps patients living with diabetes feel empowered while also providing pharmacists with confidence to provide the best care possible.

— Written by Eliza Ali