Carmel Hughes

Carmel Hughes is a Professor in Primary Care Pharmacy at the School of Pharmacy, Queen's University Belfast. Her research focuses on optimizing drug use in older populations, particularly in long-term care settings and primary care, with an emphasis on intervention studies, pharmacoepidemiology, and treatment culture analysis. She holds notable awards including the British Pharmaceutical Conference Medal (2001) and the National Primary Care Career Scientist Award (2001). Prof. Hughes has led major interdisciplinary projects such as the MED-AGE research programme and the PATH-SAFE surveillance initiative.

Her work contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals related to health and well-being. She serves on editorial boards (e.g., Pilot and Feasibility Studies) and national committees like the NIHR Health Services and Delivery Research Commissioned Prioritisation Committee. Her research spans antimicrobial prescribing optimization, dementia care interventions, and polypharmacy management. She actively supervises PhD students and has been an external examiner for doctoral programs.

Key achievements include reducing inappropriate medication use in nursing homes and contributing to Cochrane systematic reviews. Prof. Hughes collaborates internationally, including at Brown University and through EU-funded studies on antimicrobial consumption.