Colin Adair was appointed Director in 2001. Having joined the Centre in 1992 as Assistant Director, Dr Adair was responsible for developing the distance learning and eLearning programmes. During this period he published over 30 distance learning courses. The majority of these programmes have been print-based, while recent innovations, most notably supplementary prescribing, have placed greater emphasis on eLearning as a method of delivery. Increasingly, use is being made of delivering training by video over the Internet.
Since becoming Director, Dr Adair has overseen the expansion of NICPPET to now include four major areas: live education and training, distance learning, pharmacy technician development and vocational training. Dr Adair chaired the Steering Group on CPD that developed an assessable web-based CPD portfolio for pharmacists. This is now used by all pharmacists in Northern Ireland.
Dr Adair has an interest in the effectiveness of educational programmes and how these improve the practice of learners. As a result of such work, NICPPET received three National Training Awards for developing learning programmes for practice pharmacists (1999), pharmacists returning to practice (2000) and improving antibiotic prescribing (2005). Dr Adair has over 100 research publications and sits on numerous regional and national health-related steering groups.