Wed 19 August 2026
NSW celebrates its 2026 Branch Award Winners
AdPha's NSW Branch has announced the winners of its 2026 Branch Awards, recognising outstanding pharmacists, technicians and teams whose work has strengthened patient care and advanced the profession across the state over the past year.
Intern Award: Analiese Hanna
Analiese has shown exceptional professionalism, clinical capability and leadership throughout her internship year. Known for her caring, calm and attentive approach, Analiese consistently demonstrates clinical competence well beyond intern expectations—managing high‑pressure workloads, delivering meticulous medication reconciliation, and communicating effectively across multidisciplinary teams. Her enthusiasm for learning has translated into strong clinical knowledge applied confidently in practice, from cardiac rehabilitation education to independently managing complex winter‑surge caseloads. Analiese’s initiative and commitment to quality care have also seen her train pharmacy students and technicians in Best Possible Medication Histories, reflecting her natural aptitude for teaching and her desire to strengthen team capability.
Analiese’s impact extends deeply into student engagement and technician support. As the AdPha NSW Branch Intern Observer, she has contributed meaningfully to branch activities, delivered inspiring educational sessions to university students, and organised the NSW ‘Hospital Intern Hotline’—a highly valued program guiding finalyear students through hospital pharmacy applications. Her leadership in student placements at Prince of Wales Hospital has improved learner confidence, structure, and clinical reasoning. She has also played a key role in developing a structured BPMH training program for technicians, including presentations, practical guides, and AIsupported simulation cases, directly supporting expanded technician scope and improved workflow efficiency. Through her professionalism, compassion, and commitment to education, Analiese has made an outstanding contribution to hospital pharmacy and is a deserving recipient of this year’s Intern Award.
Early Career Pharmacist Award: Kingston Yeung
In just two years since registering as a pharmacist, Kingston has established himself as a national and international leader in medication safety and transitions of care with his exceptional contributions to research, education and leadership within Australian pharmacy. Balancing his role as a clinical pharmacist at Wollongong Hospital with his PhD at the University of Sydney, he manages Australia’s largest hospital pharmacy clinical trial—an innovative $1.5 million study aimed at reducing readmissions through timely post‑discharge home medicines reviews. His work has already shaped national policy, informing the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care’s Medication Management at Transitions of Care Stewardship Framework.
Kingston’s rapidly growing research profile includes four peer‑reviewed publications in high‑impact journals and more than $500,000 in competitive funding, alongside presentations at major national and international conferences, including multiple appearances at the FIP World Congress. His commitment to education is equally significant: he has taught more than 200 pharmacy students and mentored over 40 students and interns across Australia and Southeast Asia. As Chair of both the AdPha NSW Branch and the AdPha Rural and Remote Leadership Committee—and as Secretary of the FIP Hospital Pharmacy Section Communications and Digital Committee—Kingston’s influence extends across Australia and more than 120 countries. His leadership, scholarly impact, and dedication to improving medication safety make him a deserving recipient of this year’s Early Career Pharmacist Award.
Technician Award: Tennele Skinner
Tennele has showcased exceptional leadership, technical expertise and sustained contribution to advancing medication safety and modernising pharmacy services across the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network. Over the past decade, Tennele has developed specialist skills across all areas of hospital pharmacy, particularly paediatrics, and played a pivotal role in the Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick redevelopment. As the Lead Pharmacy Technician – Automation & Robotics, she has led the successful implementation of Automated Dispensing Cabinets across critical care, emergency, and inpatient areas, transforming medication access, security, and efficiency during a period of major organisational change.
Her impact extends far beyond technology deployment. She configured and quality‑assured more than 15 new ADCs for the hospital’s transition to the Bilima building, built imprest lists within Omnicenter, and coordinated large‑scale stock management to support a new medication service delivery model. Her collaboration with the Children’s Hospital at Westmead has strengthened consistency in automation practices across the network. Tennele has also been instrumental in training pharmacy staff, students, and clinical teams in both ADCs and the BD Rowa robot, significantly enhancing workforce capability and confidence. Through her innovation, project leadership, and unwavering commitment to improving patient care, Tennele has made a profound and lasting contribution to medication safety and the quality of care provided to children and families at SCHN.
Achievement Award: Kristin Xenos
Kristin’s outstanding and sustained contribution to the pharmacy profession is showcased across her career from community pharmacy to senior hospital roles and national leadership positions with the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care. She has consistently championed the role of pharmacists and elevated the standard of practice across the sector. Her commitment to lifelong learning, her pursuit of a PhD in national pharmacy prescribing education and her continued service as a Pharmacy Board examiner and weekend community pharmacist reflect her deep dedication to both her profession and her community.
Kristin’s impact extends globally through the Purple Pen Podcast, which she co‑hosts and produces without sponsorship, driven purely by a passion for sharing knowledge. With more than 290,000 downloads across 141 countries, the podcast has become a trusted educational resource for pharmacists worldwide. Her long‑standing service to AdPha and SHPA includes leadership roles, committee contributions and national antimicrobial stewardship advocacy which demonstrate her generosity, integrity and commitment to advancing the profession. Kristin is celebrated as a role model, a leader and an unwavering advocate for pharmacists.
Team Innovation Award: Pharmacy Crisis Response & Innovation Team, Sydney Local Health District Mental Health Service
Team Leader: Seniha Kasif FANZCAP (MedSafety, MentalHlth)
In early 2025, the Sydney Local Health District Mental Health Service faced a critical psychiatrist shortage that placed significant pressure on already stretched pharmacy resources. Instead of service decline, the SLHD Mental Health Pharmacy Team led a rapid, district‑wide transformation by unifying governance, expanding workforce capacity and introducing innovative pharmacist‑led models of care. Their redesign strengthened clinical safety, improved consumer engagement and embedded pharmacists as central contributors within multidisciplinary teams.
The impact was immediate and substantial. Pharmacist‑led clinical activity increased nearly fivefold, with more than 7,000 documented interventions in 2025. New initiatives introduced were the multidisciplinary case review participation, consumer medication education groups, weekend clinical pharmacy services and a Transition of Care Stewardship program. These delivered measurable improvements in medicines safety, continuity of care and consumer understanding. Achieved during a period of acute workforce disruption, this work demonstrates exceptional leadership, resilience and sector‑leading innovation. The SLHD Mental Health Pharmacy Team has set a new benchmark for mental health pharmacy practice and created a scalable model for future services.
Congratulations to all of this year's NSW Branch Award winners, and thank you to everyone who took the time to submit a nomination.