Dr Felicity Dewhurst is a Consultant in Palliative Medicine at St Oswald’s Hospice and an NIHR Advanced Fellow and Senior Clinical Lecturer in the Population Health Sciences Institute at Newcastle University. 

Following her Dunhill doctoral fellowship, she lobbied for the creation of the first NIHR Academic Clinical Lectureship in Palliative Medicine in Newcastle, and subsequently successfully applied for the first NIHR Advanced Fellowship in Palliative Medicine nationally (January 2024-6.25 years).  

Felicity has developed a mixed methods programme of research, her interests include promoting equity in palliative care particularly in relation to frailty, multiple long-term conditions, non-malignant disease and ethnic minority groups. She has achieved funding successes as lead applicant (>£1.75 million including five NIHR awards) and co-applicant (>£5.8 million) and has a strong international publication and presentation record including writing and presenting to policy audiences. Felicity has built regional and national research collaborations and her research has resulted in prize winning service innovation (hospice UK) with further service expansion planned (funded by Macmillan). Felicity has a Master’s in Health Professions Education and is on the education committee of the Association of Palliative Medicine (APM) and the organising committee for the Palliative Care Congress (PCC). She is passionate about trying to improve care through research, education and service modification. 

Katie is a consultant in palliative medicine in Northumbria Healthcare NHS Trust and has a keen interest in research, starting with her own, qualitative, PhD in 2013.  She has a strong interest in developing people to have the skills to build research capacity in palliative and end of life care in the NE and Cumbria.  Katie is co-sub-specialty lead for the Local Clinical Research Network for Supportive and Palliative Care and co-lead for the RIPEN collaboration. 

Miriam Johnson is Professor of Palliative Medicine at Hull York Medical School, Associate Director of the Wolfson Palliative Care Research Centre at the University of Hull, and Adjunct Professor at the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia. Her interests include mechanisms and management of breathlessness and inequalities in palliative care service provision e.g., for people with non-malignant disease such as heart failure and respiratory disease. For 20 years she was also a consultant palliative physician and set up one of the UK’s first integrated palliative care-heart failure services. 

Dr Sam Kyeremateng is St Luke’s Medical Director & Clinical Lead for Programme Development. Originally from Dundee, Sam completed his initial medical training in Aberdeen in 1998. He moved to Sheffield in 1999, and began working in palliative medicine in 2002.

Sam has been a Consultant at St Luke’s since 2008 and became Medical Director in 2013. His role was further expanded in 2018, to reflect his role leading the development of new and innovative clinical services at St Luke’s. Sam has been fundamental in the development of St Luke’s as a centre for specialist palliative care research.

Sam is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and a Clinical Leader for end of life care in the Yorkshire and Humber Clinical Network in South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw. In 2018, he was appointed as the Training Programme Director for Palliative Medicine for Yorkshire and Humber, responsible for overseeing the training programme for palliative care trainees throughout the Yorkshire and Humber region. 

Dr Paul Taylor is Head of Research at St Luke’s Hospice and a Senior Clinical Lecturer at the University of Sheffield.  Paul has designed and developed research at St Luke’s, building a strategy, governance process, dedicated committee and research team, and is hoping to share these experiences with other interested professionals and services around the country.  He completed his PhD in 2012, resulting in a number of publications.  He has been a co-applicant on successful bids including the £1.3 million Yorkshire Cancer Research RESOLVE project, the NIHR SUPPORTED project, and the Yorkshire and Humber Palliative Care Research Network.