The NSW Health Minister Mr Craig Knowles has appointed a Charles Sturt University academic and practising Wagga Wagga pharmacist as the ministerial nominee to the Pharmacy Board of New South Wales, in a move that heralds a new age for a century-old establishment.

Historically, this position has fallen to a nominee of the University of Sydney. However, with two universities now teaching pharmacy in NSW, this is the first time in the Pharmacy Board's 100-year-old history that appointment has gone to a regional university.

Ms Maree Simpson of the CSU School of Biomedical Sciences has secured the appointment as the NSW Health Minister's nominee. She is a lecturer in pharmacy practice and part-time pharmacist.

Head of the CSU School of Biomedical Sciences, Associate Professor Mark Burton congratulated Ms Simpson on her appointment, and said her representation on the board would bring a strong focus on regional issues as well as her expertise in rural, urban and hospital practice, and academic, research and educational matters.

"Maree's greatest asset in relation to service to the board comes from her 25 years experience in all facets of the pharmacy profession in Australia," Professor Burton said. "She has made a significant contribution as a hospital pharmacist in several major teaching hospitals, a community pharmacist in metropolitan, rural and remote areas, a research pharmacist and as a pharmacy educator.

"There are few other pharmacists who can display a similar degree of involvement and commitment. She is one of a limited number of academic pharmacists who continue to practise in the profession that they teach, and brings that experience directly to her students. Maree will bring insight into not only the practise and problems of pharmacy from a metropolitan viewpoint but also an understanding of the issues and limitations placed on members of the profession in rural New South Wales."

Ms Simpson is also a past president of the Women Pharmacists Association, a winner of the Carolyn Taylor Memorial Prize in Health Ecology and has a Bachelor of Pharmacy from Queensland, a Bachelor of Science (Hons) and a recently submitted PhD in pharmacy practice.

Her appointment comes as CSU's Faculty of Health Studies gains recognition for having the largest number of undergraduate students in health services and support courses of any Australian university. An article published in The Australian earlier this month using data obtained for The Australian Good Universities Guides ranked CSU as one of the "big five" providers in undergraduate health sciences.