Dr Stephen Connor

Dr Stephen Connor is the Executive Director of the Worldwide Hospice Palliative Care Alliance (WHPCA), the global alliance of national and regional hospice and palliative care organizations advocating for hospice palliative care development worldwide. Connor has worked in palliative care continuously for the past 41 years as a researcher, licensed medical psychologist, consultant, author, educator, advocate, & executive including 11 years in the leadership of the US National Hospice & Palliative Care Organization. For the last 17 years Dr. Connor has worked on global palliative care development in over 25 countries in Eastern Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia. He is the author/editor of 5 books and over 100 peer reviewed articles and chapters on palliative care..

Professor David Currow

David Currow is Professor of Palliative Medicine at ImPACCT (Improving Palliative, Aged and Chronic Care through Clinical Research and Translation), Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney. He is Associate Director (Research) for the Wolfson Institute, Hull York Medical School, University of Hull. Research track record includes: better understanding and treating chronic breathlessness; phase II, III and IV clinical trials; population-based planning for palliative care; and codifying the evidence base underpinning palliative care.

He is the principal investigator for the Palliative Care Clinical Studies Collaborative (PaCCSC) which has randomised more than 1800 palliative care patients across 23 sites to adequately powered and rigorously designed phase III symptom control studies. He is a foundation partner in the Australian Palliative Care Outcomes Collaborative (PCOC), an initiative to improve systematically clinical outcomes in palliative care. Competitive funding has included the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

David has published more than 460 peer-reviewed articles, editorials and books. He is an editor on the 5th edition of the Oxford Textbook of Palliative Medicine. He is senior associate editor of Journal of Palliative Medicine and on the editorial boards of Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, BMJ Supportive and Palliative Care and the Journal of Oncology Practice. David is a former president of Palliative Care Australia and the Clinical Oncological Society of Australia.

Professor Irene Higginson

Professor Irene Higginson qualified in medicine from Nottingham University and has worked in wide ranging medical and university positions, including radiotherapy and oncology, in-patient and home hospice care, the Department of Health (England) and various universities. She has been at King's as Professor and Head of Department since October 1996. While at King's from 2002 to 2005 she was Dean of Postgraduate Studies in the School of Medicine. In 2002 she was appointed Scientific Director of Cicely Saunders International, a new charity seeking to develop a centre of research in palliative care to improve care for patients and families. Before coming to King's she was a Senior Lecturer/Consultant at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Director of Research and Development at Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster Health Authority.

Dr Wang Ying Wei

Professor Wang Ying Wei is the Director General in Health Promotion Administration, MOHW Taiwan. He received his MD degree from National Taiwan University and PhD from Tulane University in US. He completed his residency training in Family Medicine in National Taiwan University Hospital. He was the chief in Heart Lotus Hospice in Tzuchi General Hospital, and director in the Department of Medical Humanities, Tzuchi University. He started the first Buddhist hospice programme in East Taiwan since 1996. He was the council member of APHN. He developed many innovative programs for hospice palliative care and medical humanities in Taiwan in the past few years.