November 2022 marks an important change for Paediatric Palliative Care Research in the UK– Professor Lorna Fraser will be joining the World leading Cicely Saunders Institute of Palliative Care, Policy and Rehabilitation at Kings College London.
Lorna is a paediatrician by background and has been working in the area of paediatric palliative care research since 2009. She is the founding Director of the highly successful Martin House Research Centre – a multi-disciplinary centre for research on the care and support of children and young people with life-limiting conditions or medical complexity, their families and the workforce that cares for them. A summary of the research impact in the first five years can be found here https://www.york.ac.uk/media/healthsciences/documents/research/public-health/mhrc/52671_The%20Martin%20House%20Research%20Centre%20Report-v10%20singles%20-FINAL%20VERSION.pdf
Her main area of expertise is the use of routine data to influence policy and address healthcare inequalities and many will recognise her seminal paper on the prevalence of children with life-limiting conditions in the UK.
She has a large portfolio of funding from the major funders in the UK, including studies on the outcomes of blended diets in children who are gastrostomy fed (Your Tube), Models of End of Life care for babies children and young people (ENHANCE) and is currently leading the collaborative UK wide paediatric palliative care research network (CoPPAR) network ( see https://www.york.ac.uk/healthsciences/research/public-health/projects/martinhouse/research/coppar/) .
Her work has influenced national policies via national service specifications for paediatric palliative care, children’s palliative care funding, and vaccine prioritisation for children with COVID.
Working closely with parents and young people to priorities and undertake research in this area is crucial to the work of Professor Fraser and her team. They were awarded the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health PPI Prize in 2022 in recognition of the value of their work with families. https://www.rcpch.ac.uk/news-events/news/martin-house-research-centre-mhrc-team-win-rcpch-nihr-pier-prize-2022
“I am really excited to have been appointed to this post and to be able to work with outstanding academics in the Cicely Saunders Institute and School of Life Course Sciences and Population Health at Kings College London. Together we have the opportunity to enable our research to inform policy and practice and transforming palliative care for children across the globe.”
It was indeed exciting meeting you at Mildmay Uganda during the Children’s Palliative Care Workshop on 5th and 6th September 2023.
Thanks for the amazing research impact around paediatric palliative care and child health.