Dr Naoko Arakawa, has been selected by the FIP Bureau as the federation’s interim education secretary. The post is an interim position at FIP, created to support the FIP Education chair at an operational level while the federation looks to formalise the position in FIPEd, which would require the FIP Council to approve FIP Education becoming a third board within FIP and the FIP Statutes to be revised accordingly. 

Dr Arakawa has been a member of and active volunteer at FIP since 2017, including most recently serving as the secretary of the Academic Pharmacy Section. “I am really excited to take up this role. I’ll do my best to support the FIP Education chair, changes of FIP Education structure, the ONE FIP strategy and collaborative projects. I would also like to voice my appreciation for all the support that I received within and beyond the FIP to make this possible,” she said. Dr Arakawa’s post begins on 1 August, while she will also be associate professor at the University of Nottingham, UK. The term of office for interim education secretary ends in 2026.

“I enthusiastically welcome Naoko Arakawa to FIP Education as our inaugural education secretary in an interim capacity. My appreciation to FIP president Dominque Jordan and CEO Catherine Duggan for their support in establishing this much needed position in FIP Education and to the Bureau for ratifying Naoko as the interim education secretary. Naoko’s “can do, will do” approach to challenges and opportunities will prove to be an essential and valuable addition to FIP Education. I have enjoyed working with Naoko over the past several years and very much look forward to her contributions to advance the mission of FIP Education and the ONE FIP strategy,” said FIP Education chair Ralph Altiere.