Going for Gauld: Problem-solving pharmacist

Research is really cool, really interesting and I like thinking about how we can better use pharmacy, so that’s kind of part of what I do in my spare time

Pharmacist Natalie Gauld’s new­found fondness for a cryptic crossword is unlikely to surprise anyone: she’s got a penchant for prob­lem solving, a knack for seeking out solutions and she’s unafraid of tackling a real challenge.

Her renowned research was celebrat­ed in May at the New Zealand Primary Healthcare Awards | He Tohu Mauri Ora 2021, when the University of Auck­land VIP study team won the Research and Education Award for their project “Protecting our pēpi through aiding awareness of and access to maternal vaccinations”.

Led by Dr Gauld, the research team is made up of biostatistician Alana Cavadino, paediatricians Cameron Grant and Owen Sinclair, analyst Anna Howe, pharmacist Samuel Martin, Midland Community Pharmacy Group chief executive Cath Knapton, public health physician Felicity Dumble and vaccinologist Helen Petousis-Harris.

Dr Gauld emphasises the importance of the project being a team effort, with each team member having made impor­tant contributions to the overall success of the project.

Dr Gauld was also joint winner of the Supreme Award in the 2018 Pharmacy Awards and is a Fellow and vice-president of the Pharmaceutical Socie­ty of New Zealand.

But despite her numerous accomplish­ments, Dr Gauld says that when she left home in Taranaki to study pharmacy at the Central Institute of Technology in Petone, Wellington, she did not stand out at all.

“Certainly, at pharmacy school I would have been voted the least likely to go on and do research – I didn’t excel. As a young person, you’re finding your place in the world…I was from a public school in a small town and I went to the city. You kind of feel like you’re just a little pawn.”

But since graduating, she has been named an honorary senior research Fel­low and senior clinical lecturer at the University of Auckland, completed a PhD, and founded Natalie Gauld Lim­ited which works on access to medicines and research.

In her time off, she enjoys taking photos of birds, spending time with family, skiing or turning her mind to a cryptic crossword. She also enjoys cy­cling with her husband – despite the fact that it cost her some teeth after she fell off her bike earlier this year.

“I have new teeth…I showed them off at the awards! I’m fine, and my teeth look better than last time, so that’s good!” she laughs.

But her true passion, unsurprisingly, is research.

“I actually love research – research is really cool, really interesting and I like thinking about how we can better use pharmacy, so that’s kind of part of what I do in my spare time,” says Dr Gauld.

“I love doing things better and differently; where I can see an op­portunity to do something new that I see there is a need for. Does it help the consumer?” she asks.

“Does it help the health system? Is it something that is helpful to have in pharmacy? If it ticks those boxes, I’m usually wanting to be involved.”

After qualifying as a pharmacist and seeing the role pharmacy can provide, she explains, she wanted to help prove it to others as well.

“Because it’s not enough for us to say ‘we can do this’. But actually, to get over some barriers you need to prove your­selves again and again. I’ve been interested in helping provide evidence for what pharmacy can do, but also helping to understand how can we do it better so that we learn.”

However, despite doing what she loves, she admits she still faces chal­lenges – both personally and profes­sionally.

“Whenever you’re trying to create change, there are always people who will do a lot to try and stop you – there are always so many barriers. Sometimes you wonder why you keep wanting to do this when it can be really, really, re­ally hard,” Dr Gauld explains.

“I do find it challenging having dia­betes as well. I started on insulin three years ago for a late-onset type 1 diabe­tes and that has changed my life.

“It makes it a bit harder...it’s unpre­dictable. It takes a lot more head space than what you want – you never have a break from that,” she says.

Anna Lee is a reporter for Pharmacy Today