Ema Paulino is a practising community pharmacist at her own pharmacy in Portugal. She is currently accountable for the development and implementation of pharmaceutical services in a virtual chain of 400 pharmacies. She is President of the South Branch of the Portuguese Pharmaceutical Society and a member of its National Board, and represents this organisation at various international groups and organisations such as the Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union and the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP). Previously, she was a member of the Board of the National Association of Pharmacies. Currently Professional Secretary of FIP, Ema has previously been Chairperson and Project Coordinator of the Young Pharmacists' Group, a member of the FIP Programme Committee, and Secretary of the Community Pharmacy Section. Ema is a member of the Pharmaceutical Care Network Europe (PCNE). She was primary researcher in an international collaboration on identification of DRPs in discharged patients, under the umbrella of the Stevenshof Institute for Pharmacy Practice Research and the European Society of Clinical Pharmacy, having won the Health Base Foundation Poster Award at the 30th ESCP Conference in Antwerp, in 2001, for the poster and oral communication “DRPs among patients discharged from hospital”. Ema also conducted research on facilitators of practice change in community pharmacy. Ema’s leadership positions include Secretary General and Permanent Officer in The Netherlands for the European Pharmaceutical Students’ Association (EPSA) 2000-2001, President of the Portuguese Pharmacy Students’ Association (APEF) 1999-2000, Chairperson of Health Information, Promotion and Education of the Lisbon Students’ Association 1998-2000, Member of the National Department of Health Information, Promotion and Education of APEF 1998-1999, Member of the Representative Assembly of the Faculty of Pharmacy of Lisbon 1997-2000, and Vice–President of the Highschool Students’ Association 1992-1994. She contributes with a monthly column on international pharmacy-related issues in the Portuguese Magazine “Farmácia Distribuição”.