Barbara Farrell
BScPhm, PharmD, FCSHP
Senior Investigator
Clinical Investigator
CT Lamont Primary Health Care Research Centre
Associate Professor
Department of Family Medicine, University of Ottawa
Adjunct Assistant Professor
School of Pharmacy, University of Waterloo
About:
Barbara Farrell, PharmD, is the Founder and Senior Advisor of the Deprescribing Guidelines Research team Deprescribing.org. She is a Senior Scientist with the Bruyère Health Research Institute and CT Lamont Primary Health Care Research Centre, Associate Professor with the Department of Family Medicine, University of Ottawa and Adjunct Assistant Professor with the School of Pharmacy, University of Waterloo. She maintains a clinical practice as a pharmacist in the Bruyère Health Geriatric Day Hospital.
She has worked clinically in hospital pharmacy, community pharmacy, primary care and for over 25 years in a specialized Geriatric Day Hospital practice, all of which have provided her with a broad perspective on pharmacy practice and the needs of patients in different health care environments.
Farrell has experience in curricular design, including designing and implementing a structured practice experience program for undergraduate students and developing online educational programming focused on medication management skills for pharmacists. She was also instrumental in co-leading a large demonstration project incorporating pharmacists into primary health care teams and resulting in growth of this practice model in Canada.
In recognition of these accomplishments, Farrell received the Canadian Pharmacist of the Year award in 2011. In 2017, she received the Bruyère Health, Partners in Excellence, Commitment to Quality Award, in 2018, the Exceptional Achievement in Research and Academia award from the Ontario Pharmacists Association, and in 2019, the CIHR Betty Havens Prize for Knowledge Translation in Aging for her work in leading the development of evidence-based guidelines for deprescribing, and in 2022, the Hall of Distinction Alumni Award from the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto.
Farrell is a founding member of the Canadian Medication Appropriateness and Deprescribing Network and member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the United States Deprescribing Research Network.
Research Interests:
Deprescribing guidelines, polypharmacy, interprofessional care, prescribing cascades.
Select Publications:
Farrell B, Raman-Wilms L, Sadowski CA, Mallery L, Turner J, Gagnon C, Cole M, Grill A, Isenor JE, Mangin D, McCarthy L, Schuster B, Sirois C, Sun W, Upshur R. (2023). A proposed curricular framework for an interprofessional approach to deprescribing. Medical Science Educator.
Farrell B, Galley E, Jeffs L, Howell P, McCarthy L. (2022). “Kind of blurry”: Deciphering clues to prevent, investigate and manage prescribing cascades. PLoS ONE.
Farrell B, Grant R, Dilliott D, Granikov V, Sen HE, Grad R, Vuong V, Smith S, Pluye P. (2022). Lessons learned from using whiteboard videos and YouTube for deprescribing guidelines knowledge mobilization. The International Journal of Pharmacy Practice.
Farrell B, Clarkin C, Conklin J, Dolovich L, Irving H, McCarthy L, Raman-Wilms L. (2020). Community pharmacists as catalysts for deprescribing. Canadian Pharmacists Journal.
Farrell B, Pottie K, Rojas-Fernandez C, Bjerre LM, Thompson W, Welch V. (2016). Methodology for developing deprescribing guidelines: using evidence and GRADE to guide recommendations for deprescribing. PLoS One.
Contact:
bfarrell@bruyere.org
Learn more at Deprescribing.org