Rate My Professor Helen Root

Helen Root is an Associate Professor in Pharmacy Practice in the Leicester School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, at De Montfort University Leicester. She earned her MPharm from the University of Bradford in 2004 and registered as a pharmacist in 2005, complemented by a PGCert in Healthcare Law, PGCertHE in 2014, and Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) in 2014. Her career spans over 25 years in community pharmacy, where she started as a dispensing technician and specialized in anticoagulation testing and substance misuse services. Prior to her full-time academic appointment in 2013, she worked as a teacher practitioner for Boots Pharmacy at De Montfort University.

Root teaches Pharmacy Practice, emphasizing law and ethics, and has served in pivotal roles including Programme Leader for the MPharm degree, lead tutor for undergraduate placements, Student Voice Chair, Employability Champion, and Admissions Tutor. She successfully led the MPharm programme through General Pharmaceutical Council reaccreditation in 2023 and revalidation under the university's Education 2030 vision. Her research focuses on pharmacy practice, education, and antimicrobial stewardship, with contributions to Dale and Appelbe’s Pharmacy and Medicines Law, and peer-reviewed articles such as "Implementation of the national antimicrobial stewardship programme in English community pharmacies" (Hamilton et al., 2023) and "Evaluation of antibiotics returned for safe disposal during and after a community pharmacy antibiotic amnesty campaign" (Hamilton et al., 2024). In 2017, she received the Vice Chancellor’s Award for Distinguished Service to De Montfort University. Additionally, she chairs the Royal Pharmaceutical Society Local Pharmacy Forum for Leicestershire, tutors for the Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education, investigates fitness to practise cases, and advances equality, diversity, and inclusion through committee work and Athena Swan initiatives. Root also spearheads employability efforts, including an annual pharmacy careers event attracting major employers.