Irene Higginson

Irene J. Higginson OBE is the Director of Better Health and Care Futures. She is Professor of Palliative Care & Policy King's College London, Honorary Consultant in Palliative Medicine, NIHR Emeritus Senior Investigator and Fellow of the Academy of Sciences .

Higginson has a medical degree from the University of Nottingham.

Higginson was the founding Professor of the Cicely Saunders Institute, at King's College London, the world's first purpose-built institute of palliative care.She was appointed an OBE in 2008 for services to medicine.

Professor Higginson is also Scientific Director for the charity Cicely Saunders International. Her research has pioneered better ways to measure outcomes and quality of life, evaluate palliative care especially new services and interventions, epidemiology, effectiveness, psychosocial care, symptom assessment, breathlessness, cachexia/anorexia, and multi-morbidity.