Professor Janet Sluggett

Professor Janet Sluggett

PhD, BPharm (Hons), GradDipClinEpid, Cert IV TAE, FPS, FAdPha, FANZCAP, GAICD

Professor Janet Sluggett is a Professor of Pharmacy and Pharmacoepidemiology, NHMRC Emerging Leadership 2 (EL2) Fellow and Enterprise Fellow in the School of Allied Health and Human Performance at Adelaide University. She is an Affiliate Researcher at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI).

Janet is a pharmacist and nationally recognised leader in quality use of medicines, pharmacy practice research and aged care. Her work focuses on helping older people get the most benefit from their medicines, while reducing the risk of medicines-related harm. Older people receiving aged care services often take multiple medicines to manage their health conditions and maintain their health and wellbeing, but this can also increase the risk of adverse effects such as confusion, falls and hospitalisations. Janet works closely with older people and their families, health professionals, aged care providers, industry, professional societies, and policymakers to better understand these risks and develop practical solutions that improve medicines use, care delivery and health outcomes.

Janet's research program spans pharmacoepidemiology, quality monitoring, program evaluation and co-designed care models. She leads a multidisciplinary 10-person research team with expertise in pharmacy, pharmacoepidemiology, implementation science, qualitative research, quality improvement, quality use of medicines and aged care. Janet has published >120 peer-reviewed original research publications and has secured >$22 million in competitive research funding as a Chief Investigator, including >$9 million as CIA. Janet’s work has helped identify where existing pharmacist and aged care services work well, where changes are needed, and how pharmacist services can be strengthened to improve care for older Australians. Her expertise has informed national aged care policy and reform, including invited expert witness contributions to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.

Janet is a Non-Executive Director of Southern Cross Care (SA, NT & VIC) and the Australian MedicAlert Foundation. She has previously been a visiting research fellow at the Kaiser Permanente National Implant Registries in San Diego and the Kuopio Research Centre for Geriatric Care, University of Eastern Finland.

Janet welcomes enquiries from prospective PhD students, researchers and collaborators interested in aged care, medicines safety, pharmacoepidemiology, implementation science and health services research.