Dr Aoife Fleming is a Senior Lecturer in Clinical Pharmacy School of Pharmacy, Director of the MPharm Programme, and Vice Head for Interprofessional Learning, College of Medicine and Health. 

She holds a joint appointment with the Mercy University Hospital as a research pharmacist since 2016. She graduated with a degree in Pharmacy from Trinity College Dublin in 2004 and was awarded a Trinity College Dublin Gold Medal. She completed a Masters in Hospital Pharmacy (Trinity College Dublin) in 2007 while working as a Pharmacist at Beaumont Hospital. She has extensive experience working the hospital and community pharmacy settings. Dr Fleming was awarded a Health Research Board PhD Scholarship in 2011 at the School of Pharmacy and School of Public Health, University College Cork. Her PhD investigated Antimicrobial Stewardship in Ireland with a focus on long-term care facilities. Antimicrobial stewardship involves optimising the prescribing and surveillance of antimicrobials, and developing interventions to support appropriate antimicrobial use. Aoife has published and collaborated in the area of antimicrobial stewardship and continues to conduct research and contribute to policy and practice in this area. In her current role, Aoife is the liaison Pharmacist between the School of Pharmacy UCC and the Pharmacy Department at the Mercy University Hospital whereby she provides research support to Pharmacists in hospital practice in the areas of antimicrobial stewardship and medication safety. 


Antimicrobial Stewardship and Patient experience of AMR and Sepsis:
Following on from PhD research investigating antimicrobial stewardship in long term care facilities, Aoife continues to investigate opportunities for Antimicrobial Stewardship in hospital, long term care and primary care settings. This includes investigations of the impact of point of care test diagnostics and enhanced surveillance measures to monitor antimicrobial prescribing trends. Aoife was a Principal Investigator for a feasibility trial evaluating the impact of procalcitonin as a biomarker for infection and it's impact on antimicrobial prescribing in the hospital setting - this was a multidisciplinary, collaborative trial.
Aoife collaborates nationally and internationally on AMS research. Her collaborations include the following:
Cara Network collaboration on antimicrobial prescribing and stewardship interventions in primary care with Professor Akke Vellinga, University College Dublin. 
VALUE-Dx European trial PRUDENCE: Platform Randomised controlled trial of point of care Diagnostics for Enhancing the quality of aNtibiotic prescribing for Community acquired acute respiratory tract infection (CA-ARTI) in ambulatory care in Europe.
Investigating the impact of point-of-care diagnostic testing for respiratory tract infections in primary care to improve the appropriateness of antimicrobial prescribing. 
Investigation of the factors influencing antimicrobial prescribing in long term care facilities with researchers.

Aoife has investigated the impact of the COVID-19 on community pharmacists' experiences wellbeing with colleagues at the School of Pharmacy UCC and presented this research nationally. 

Education of future healthcare professionals on antimicrobial resistance and stewardship is vital to preparing them to address these global challenges. Research has been undertaken research to map the undergraduate antimicrobial education curriculum to key competency frameworks has been undertaken. Qualitative research of educators views of antimicrobial education, and evaluation of critical reasoning skills in pharmacy student education has been conducted and presented. 

Aoife is a member of the Pharmacist Antimicrobial Stewardship Network (PAMS-Net) and contributes regularly to PAMS-Net educational events and webinars. She has been involved in several Antimicrobial Awareness initiatives with healthcare students in UCC to promote awareness of antimicrobial resistance and appropriate use of antimicrobials. 

Aoife was nominated to the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy Council as a member in February 2023.  The BSAC Council is a multidisciplinary network of antimicrobial stewardship leaders, with representation from all key stakeholders. The Council contributes to the development of global Antimicrobial Stewardship networks, development of initiatives to optimise antimicrobial use, support educational resources and advocacy activities.

Aoife is currently Principal Investigator for a qualitative research study capturing patient stories and experiences of sepsis and antimicrobial resistant infections. This is a collaborative research project with co-investigators in the School of Pharmacy and School of Public Health UCC, as well as clinicians from medicine, nursing and public health. This work will inform the development of future strategies to improve public awareness of AMR and sepsis, and improve communication and education of patients as they experience these infections. 

Vaccines uptake:
Aoife has a growing research interest in the field of vaccines uptake, addressing vaccine hesitancy and the potential for vaccines as an antimicrobial stewardship strategy. She is involved in several collaborations evaluating the role of the health care professional in vaccines promotion and investigating vaccines hesitancy in Ireland. She has developed a CPD programme for pharmacists on this topic in collaboration with the IPU Academy. She has conducted several research studies investigating the factors influencing vaccines uptake with the public and provision of information by healthcare professionals. 
Aoife is a Co-Investigator on the All Ireland Vaccines Training Alliance (AIVRT) which is a HEA funded North-South Ireland Research Programme with researchers in UCC, UCD, TCD and QUB.

Pharmacists in Research:
Pharmacists are an integral, front line provider of healthcare and support to patients and other health care professionals in primary and secondary care. In order to evaluate the potential for developing pharmacists roles, Aoife is involved in several qualitative research projects investigating the uptake of pharmacists interventions in the hospital setting, provision of vaccines information and antimicrobial stewardship.
Aoife is an advocate and supporter of pharmacists undertaking part-time PhD research to develop their research skills and make an impact on patient care in their practice. She is currently supervising several Pharmacists undertaking research on antimicrobial stewardship, vaccination uptake, medication safety as well as other clinical areas. Aoife has successfully secured funding to support pharmacists undertake doctoral research in their clinical practice settings to optimise patient safety, antimicrobial stewardship and the development of pharmacy practice. 

Vice Head for Interprofessional Learning:
As Vice Head for Interprofessional Learning in the College of Medicine and Health, and Interprofessional Learning Coordinator in the School of Pharmacy, Aoife has been developing  opportunities for healthcare students to engage and collaborate with students from other disciplines such as Pharmacy, Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing & Midwifery, Physiotherapy, Speech & Language Therapy, Medical imaging and Diagnostic Radiography, and Dietetics. She is Chair of the UCC College of Medicine and Health Interprofessional Learning Development Committee and collaborates with colleagues across all disciplines to design and develop new offerings for IPL. Aoife chaired and hosted the inaugural All Ireland Interprofessional Healthcare Challenge for Students (AIPEC) 2022. This was an all-island, intervarsity challenge whereby students presented a patient care plan that they had developed collaboratively. As the UCC AIPEC representative on the national committee, Aoife recruits and mentors students from across the health and social care programmes in UCC to participate in the local AIPEC heat, with winners progressing to the All Ireland final. In 2025 the UCC team won the AIPEC final and in the same year AIPEC won the prize for Best Collaboration Project and the final Overall Excellence Award at the Irish Education Awards. 
Aoife has been successful in securing funding to develop IPL training opportunities for colleagues facilitating IPL. 

Aoife was appointed to the Board of the Centre for the Advancement of Interprofessional Education (CAIPE) UK in January 2024. CAIPE is the leading organisation in the UK for Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice (IPECP). Established in 1987, CAIPE is a UK-based charity with international outreach whose members (individuals, service users, students and corporate organisations) work together to promote and develop the health and wellbeing of individuals, families and communities through interprofessional education, collaborative practice and related research facilitating the development of a workforce fit for purpose.

Postgraduate and Research supervision:
Doctoral students supervised to completion:
Dr Sarah Marshall
Dr Frank O'Riordan

Current Doctoral Students:
Ms Patricia Sheehan
Ms Mala Shah
Ms Aoife Delaney
Ms Sarah Fenton
Dr Chikondi Kandulu
Ms Abbie Wearing
Ms Anna Colthorpe
Ms Eimear McManus

Total career publications: 38
h index: 16
Total citations: 1041

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Aoife_Fleming
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ynENMzEAAAAJ&hl=en

My research interests are in the areas of antimicrobial stewardship; with a focus on the behavioral determinants influencing antimicrobial prescribing, and the impact of point-of-care test systems (e.g. CRP and procalcitonin). I am involved in Interprofessional Learning for Pharmacy students and I am conducting ongoing research in this area to enhance their experience of IPL. Other research interests include medication reconciliation, medication safety, penicillin allergy and its impact on antimicrobial stewardship and medicines optimisation in long term care facilities.

Aoife is MPharm Director and is involved in teaching on the undergraduate Pharmacy Masters programme (MPharm) and the Masters in Clinical Pharmacy at UCC.
She has coordinated several modules at undergraduate level:
PF3011 Professional Practice III,
PF4013 Clinical Pharmacy Practice I
PF6400 Clinical Pharmacy Practice II
PF4010 Organisation and Management skills.

and postgraduate level:
PF6009 MSc Clinical Pharmacy Pharmacotherapy I.

Her teaching interests include:
- Vice Head for Interprofessional Learning: the development and facilitation of Interprofessional Learning sessions, including patient-facing, experiential-learning sessions.
- IPL in clinical setting, patient-facing in the Mercy University Hospital between Pharmacy and Medical Students as a joint venture with the School of Medicine.
- the development and facilitation of IPL sessions for Pharmacy and Dentistry students, UCC.
- Antimicrobial stewardship and optimisation
- Treatment of renal disease, prescribing in renal impairment
- Respiratory conditions: COPD, Asthma, Cystic Fibrosis
- Prescribing in pregnancy and breastfeeding
- Safe prescribing, Medication Safety
- Dispensing training for pharmacy students


She holds a Certificate and Diploma in Teaching and Learning from University College Cork. She is a member of the Pharmacy Education Research Group, School of Pharmacy, UCC.