معرفی
Professor Irene Higginson is a leading academic in palliative care and policy at King's College London, holding the role of Professor of Palliative Care & Policy at the Cicely Saunders Institute within the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care. She also serves as Director of the Better Health & Care Hub. Her roles include honorary consultant positions at King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, and Lewisham Hospital. She has held leadership roles such as Executive Dean of her faculty and Director of Research and Innovation at King’s College Hospital Trust.
Her research focuses on palliative care quality, symptom management (especially breathlessness and cachexia), and healthcare service evaluation. Notably, she leads the EU-funded BETTER-B programme investigating breathlessness interventions. She is a globally recognized researcher with over 4000 citations and recognition as a Highly Cited Researcher (top 1% in her field).
Her work spans clinical trials, outcome measurement (e.g., Palliative Care Outcome Scale), and policy development. Recent studies include pharmacological breathlessness management in COPD and non-cancer conditions, as well as evaluating palliative care access and equity. She contributes to international initiatives like the EAPC White Paper on outcome measurement.
- Education Background: Public Health and Palliative Medicine training, with prior roles at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
- Grants & Projects: Leads over 200 projects funded by NIHR, EU, and charities like Cicely Saunders International.
- Awards: NIHR Senior Investigator (Emeritus), top 30 UK female scientist by citations.
- Teaching: Supervises PhD students, teaches on MSc palliative care programs, and mentors medical trainees.
Her research emphasizes interdisciplinary collaboration, addressing inequities in palliative care access and improving models for multimorbidity and complex conditions. She chairs the NIHR Health and Social Care Delivery Research Programme’s funding committee and directs Cicely Saunders International’s scientific activities.
