SEAN MORRISON
Mount Sinai Health Center, USA

 

Dr. R. Sean Morrison is the Ellen and Howard C. Katz Professor and Chair of the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine. He is also Co-Director of the Patty and Jay Baker National Palliative Care Center and Director of the National Palliative Care Research Center, national organizations devoted to increasing the evidence base of palliative care in the United States. Nationally, he has served as President and Secretary of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.

 

Dr. Morrison is the recipient of numerous awards, including the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine’s PDIA National Leadership, Excellence in Research, and Visionary Awards; the American Cancer Society’s Distinguished Achievement in Cancer and Clinical Research Professor Awards; the American Geriatrics Society’s Outstanding Achievement for Clinical Investigation Award; and the Jacobi Medallion (Mount Sinai’s highest recognition).

 

Dr. Morrison has received over $75 million dollars in research funding focused on improving care for seriously ill older adults and their families. His work has appeared in all major peer-reviewed medical journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, Annals of Internal Medicine, and the Journal of the American Medical Association. He edited the first textbook on geriatric palliative care and has contributed to more than 15 books on the subject of geriatrics and palliative care. As one of the leading figures in the field of palliative medicine, Dr. Morrison has appeared numerous times on television and in print to discuss his own research and to comment on matters related to older adults and those with serious illness.

 

R. Sean Morrison received his ScB from Brown University and his MD from the University of Chicago Pritzker School Of Medicine. He completed his residency training at the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center followed by post-graduate fellowship training at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. He has been on Mount Sinai’s faculty since 1995. 

 

 

LIBBY SALLNOW
University College London, UK

 

Dr Libby Sallnow is an Associate Professor and Head of Department of the Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Department at University College London. She works as a palliative medicine physician the community setting for the NHS in London, is a guest professor at the End-of-Life Care Research Group at the Vrije Universiteit in Belgium and an honorary consultant at the WHO collaborating centre in palliative care in Kerala, India. She has helped lead and develop the fields of new public health approaches to end-of-life care, compassionate communities, and social approaches to death, dying and loss over the past two decades in the UK and internationally and the first author of the Lancet Commission on the Value of Death: bringing death back into life (2022).

 

 

DAVID CASARETT
Duke University/Duke Health, USA

 

David Casarett MD MA is a palliative care physician and health services researcher whose work focuses on improving systems of care for people with serious, life-threatening illnesses.  He a professor of Medicine at Duke University and the Chief of Palliative Care in Duke Health.  Dr. Casarett is the author of more than 100 articles in journals including JAMA and The New England Journal of Medicine, and his writing has appeared in print and online in Salon, Esquire, Discover, Newsweek, the New York Times, and Wired.  He is a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor given by the US government to researchers in the early stages of their careers.

 

Dr. Casarett is also the author of three non-fiction books, the most recent of which was Stoned: A Doctor’s Case for Medical Marijuana, published in 2015 by Penguin Random House.  His first novel in the Ethical Chiang Mai Detective Agency series, Murder at the House of Rooster Happiness, was published in September 2016.  The second book in the series, The Missing Guests of the Magic Grove Hotel, was published in December of 2017.

 

WANG YING WEI
Tzuchi University/ Hualien Tzuchi Hospital, Taiwan

 

Professor Wang Ying Wei is the director of the Centre for Palliative Care and medical consultant in Hualien Tzuchi Hospital. He received his MD degree from Taiwan University and PhD from Tulane University in US. He completed his residency training in Family Medicine in Taiwan University Hospital. He was the former Director General in Health Promotion Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare Taiwan, 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 developed many innovative programs for geriatric care, palliative care and medical humanities in Taiwan in the past few years. His specialty included palliative care, geriatric care, medical education, and health promotion.

 

SAMAR AOUN
University of Western Australia/Perron Institute, Australia

 

Prof Samar Aoun is the Perron Institute Research Chair in Palliative Care at the University of Western Australia and Perron Institute for Neurological and Translational Science. She is an international leader in the promotion and advocacy of public health approaches to palliative care and led this approach for those living with grief and bereavement. She is known as an innovator and a champion of practice and policy translation of public health science for palliative care. Her work on social models in bereavement support has provided empirical evidence to strengthen the Compassionate Communities approach. Her research programs on supporting family carers at end of life and the public health approach to bereavement care have informed policy and practice at the national and international levels.

 

She co-founded and chairs the South-West Compassionate Communities Network in Western Australia and has led the Compassionate Connector Program which offers the practical and social support needed by families with life-limiting illnesses. The program significantly improved social connectedness and reduced hospital admissions. She currently chairs Compassionate Communities Australia.

 

She is a member of Public Health Palliative Care International and the Public Health Palliative Care reference group of the European Association of Palliative Care. She served on the International Expert Advisory Group for the development of best practice statements in bereavement care in Europe.

 

Among her awards include the Centenary Medal in 2003 from the Prime Minister of Australia, the 2018 Medal for Excellence from the European Society for Person Centred Healthcare, and more recently the 2023 WA Australian of the year.

 

MASANORI MORI
Seirei Mikatahara General  Hospital, Japan

 

Dr. Masanori Mori (a.k.a., Masa) is a palliative care physician and the director of the Division of Palliative and Supportive Care at Seirei Mikatahara General Hospital in Hamamatsu, Japan. After graduating from Kyoto University, he completed internal medicine residency at Okinawa Chubu Hospital in Japan and Beth Israel Medical Center in New York. He then pursued a hospice and palliative medicine fellowship at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, followed by a Hematology/Oncology fellowship at the University of Vermont College of Medicine in Burlington, USA.

 

Currently, Masa serves as a co-vice chair of the Asia Pacific Hospice Palliative Care Network (APHN). His research interests include symptom management, physician-patient communication, and advance care planning. He has been the Principal Investigator of multiple national and international projects, including the East Asian cross-cultural collaborative Study to Elucidate the Dying process (EASED) conducted in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan; a Delphi study on advance care planning in Asia; a cross-cultural survey on prognostic communication in Asia and the USA; and prospective studies on symptom management in patients with advanced cancer.

 

Masa is a co-editor of a book “Advance Care Planning in the Asia Pacific.” He has been involved in the development of multiple national and international clinical practice guidelines as well as programs for scientific meetings.

 

SMRITI RANA
Pallium India Trust, India

 

Smriti Rana is the Head of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Training and Policy on Access to Pain Relief in Trivandrum. This is the flagship service delivery program of Pallium India – an organization that demonstrates, educates and advocates for the integration of palliative care into mainstream healthcare in India. Pallium India has Consultative Status with the UN Economic and Social Council, for which Smriti is the liaison officer.

 

Smriti has almost 2 decades of experience in palliative care with deep personal ties to her work. At Pallium India, Smriti heads the Strategic Programs and Partnerships Division. Her work entails aiding in integrating palliative care into the Indian health system, focusing on increasing safe access to adequate pain relief and patient support across the continuum of care. Additionally, she works for health system reform through advocacy for improved education for clinicians and patients, improved health service delivery, policy support, patient empowerment and death literacy.

 

Smriti has represented the Civil Society perspective from the Global South at several high-level events, and has been part of international guideline development groups and expert consultative groups. Internationally, her work focusses on equitable access to pain relief, and decolonizing health care.

 

She is the India Advocacy Focal Point for the International Association of Hospice and Palliative Care, and is Vice Chair of the International Drug Policy Consortium.

 

CHRISTIAN NTIZIMIRA
African Centre for Research on End-of-Life Care, Rwanda

 

Dr. Christian Ntizimira is the author of “The Safari Concept: An African Framework on End-of-Life Care” and Founder/Executive Director of the African Center for Research on End-of-Life Care (ACREOL), a non-profit organization to bring socio-cultural equality through “Ubuntu in End-of-life Care” in Africa. He is a Fulbright Alumni and graduated from Harvard Medical School, Department of Global Health and Social Medicine. Dr. Ntizimira is also an alumnus of the Kofi Annan Global Health Leadership programme, which aims to bring selected Africans to strategize, manage and lead public health programs that will transform public health in Africa.

 

Dr. Ntizimira is the winner of the prestigious Tällberg-Stervos Niarcos Foundation-Eliasson Global Leadership Prize 2021, for his passionate advocacy for palliative care in Rwanda and elsewhere in Africa, based on his deeply held belief that dignified end-of-life care is a human right. He pioneered integrating palliative care and end-of-life care into health services rendered to Rwandan cancer patients and in community settings. In 2011, he received a fellowship award to study palliative care education and practice in the United States to develop palliative care in low- and middle-income countries for World Hospice and Palliative Care Alliance (WHPCA). From 2010–13, he was the director of Kibagabaga Hospital in Kigali. He has advised several governments on national palliative care policy, including Burundi, Rwanda, and Senegal, on access to palliative care services.

 

Dr. Ntizimira graduated in medicine from the College of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Rwanda. He also trained as an African Pain Policy Expert at the University of Wisconsin. Dr. Ntizimira was named Young Cancer Leader by the Union for International Cancer Control in 2016 and Distinguished Young Leader by the Harvard Global Health Catalyst in 2017. In 2018 he became the first advocacy/policy champion among extraordinary individuals are making a significant contribution to developing palliative care in low- and middle-income countries for World Hospice and Palliative Care Alliance (WHPCA). 

 

 

RACHEL COGHLAN
Deakin University, Australia

 

Dr Rachel Coghlan is a public health leader with over 20 years post-qualification experience gained in clinical practice, and in international public health and humanitarian research, policy and advocacy. Rachel holds a Doctor of Philosophy at the Centre for Humanitarian Leadership, Deakin University. Her research has explored the place of palliative care in humanitarian settings with a particular focus on the role of community. She was awarded a Fulbright Professional Scholarship Award in Non-Profit Leadership to spend time at the Center for Humanitarian Health, Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore in 2023.

 

Rachel currently works as a specialist palliative care, neurology and oncology physiotherapist in Melbourne in inpatient and community settings. She is a Board Director of Palliative Care Australia.

 

Rachel is a curious thinker and listener, always searching to learn from those most affected by illness and by humanitarian crisis. She regularly writes to spread a little compassion and humanity in living and in dying, and to help make sense of grief and suffering in our world.

 

 

SAYAKA TAKENOUCHI
Kyoto University, Japan

 

Sayaka Takenouchi is an associate professor in the Department of Nursing Ethics at the Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine in Kyoto, Japan. Dr. Takenouchi is a nurse educator and researcher. Her areas of expertise include nursing ethics and palliative/end-of-life care. After obtaining her nursing licenses in both Japan and the United States, she gained experience as a hospice/palliative care nurse in the United States and was determined to bring the End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC) curriculum back to her country.

 

Dr. Takenouchi was the first international ELNEC educator to begin translating ELNEC. Supported by a strong project team, she has been dedicated to developing the Japanese version of the ELNEC Core, Geriatric, Critical Care, and Pediatric Palliative Care curricula and training Japanese nurses since 2004. She leads several funded projects related to advance care planning for people with serious illness. She is a board member of the Japanese Society for Palliative Medicine and the Japan Nursing Ethics Association, and a board councillor of the Japan Academy of Nursing Science. Her passion is to empower nurses to be patient advocates through patient-centered approaches framed by assessing patients’ needs and honoring what matters to them.

 

Dr. Takenouchi holds BSN from San Diego State University, as well as a MPH and PhD from Kyoto University. 

 

 

CARLOS CENTENO
Clinica Universidad de Navarra, Spain

 

Professor Carlos Centeno, an oncologist and senior consultant in palliative medicine, holds the position of Director at the Department of Palliative Medicine, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Spain. A full professor in Palliative Medicine, he is also at the helm of the Global Palliative Care Observatory ATLANTES at the University of Navarra’s Institute of Culture and Society (ICS). Since 2022, ATLANTES has been recognized as a WHO Collaborating Centre for the Global Monitoring of Palliative Care Development.

 

Prof. Centeno was honored with the EAPC Prize in 2019, a prestigious award from the European Association for Palliative Care, reflecting his significant contributions to the field. His academic efforts include leading regional Atlases of Palliative Care across Africa, the Eastern Mediterranean region, Europe, and Latin America, and his extensive publication record includes critical studies on international palliative care monitoring, medical education, and other delicate topics such as gratitude, the clinical approach to the expression of a wish to die, and palliative sedation.

 

Clinically, Prof. Centeno focuses on the early integration of palliative care in illness management, challenging symptom control including pain and asthenia, and the innovative use of psychostimulants. He boasts an H-index of 34 with over 5,000 citations on Web of Science as of 2024.

 

With two decades of teaching experience at the University of Navarra, Prof. Centeno has significantly influenced medical education and undergraduate experiences in palliative care.

 

KINLEY BHUTI
Jigme Dorgi Wanchuck National Referral Hospital, Bhutan

 

Dr. Kinley Bhuti is a compassionate and dedicated medical professional known for her expertise in palliative care, as well as her commitment to teaching and research. She earned her MBBS from Chittagong Medical College, Bangladesh in 2015 and further advanced her medical education by completing a Master’s in General Practice from the Khesar Gyalpo University of Medical Sciences of Bhutan in 2021. Motivated by a deep desire to improve care for those with terminal illnesses, Dr. Kinley pursued a year-long fellowship in palliative care at the National Cancer Centre Singapore, where she honed her ability to manage complex symptoms associated with life-limiting conditions. This journey holds personal significance, as it honors the legacy of her late father, who benefited from palliative care during his illness.

 

Beyond clinical practice, Dr. Kinley is passionate about teaching. She believes that sharing knowledge not only enriches others but also strengthens her own understanding. This commitment to education is evident in her active participation in national capacity-building initiatives aimed at improving awareness and training in palliative care across Bhutan. In addition, she is deeply involved in research, advocating for evidence-based clinical practices to ensure the highest standard of care for patients.

 

Dr. Kinley’s dual role as a clinician and educator allows her to elevate the standard of care for those facing serious illnesses. Her dedication to patient care, teaching, and research reflects her unwavering commitment to compassion and excellence, inspiring a new generation of healthcare professionals.. 

 

 

DIAH MARTINA
Universitas Indonesia Hospital, Indonesia

 

Diah Martina is an internist and faculty member in the Division of Psychosomatic and Palliative Medicine at Universitas Indonesia. She completed her palliative care fellowship at Erasmus MC Cancer Institute with an ESMO Fellowship Award. She was also the first Indonesian to receive ASCO’s International Development and Education Award in Palliative Care. Dr. Martina earned her PhD from Erasmus MC, focusing on cultural perspectives in advance care planning in Asia. Her work spans serious illness communication, culturally sensitive care, spirituality, and capacity building. Actively involved in global initiatives, she served on ASCO’s Asia-Pacific Regional Council (2019–2023) and collaborates with the Indonesian Ministry of Health and WHO-Indonesia on national palliative care advocacy, also leading the Ministry’s Training for Trainers program for healthcare professionals. Diah Martina wrote several books and contributed significantly to research on palliative care and culturally sensitive serious illness communication.

 

ERIC FINKELSTEIN
Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore

 

Dr. Finkelstein is Professor of Health Services and Systems Research at the Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore and the Executive Director of the Lien Centre for Palliative Care. He also holds appointments at NUS School of Public Health, and Duke University. His research focuses on the economic causes and consequences of health behaviors, with a primary emphasis on the use of traditional and behavioral economic incentives to influence behaviors in ways to improve the public’s health. A major focus are studies to better understand the complicated decisions that revolve around end-of-life care. He has published over 300 manuscripts and 2 books and was included in the list of the World’s Most Highly Cited Researchers in 2015 to 2017 by Thomson Reuters and Clarivate Analytics and among the Top 2% of scientists worldwide in a study by Stanford University in 2021.