Peter is the Director of the Centre for Palliative Care which is a statewide academic unit based at St Vincent’s Hospital and a Collaborative Centre of The University of Melbourne, Australia. He holds an honorary professorial position at The University of Melbourne and is Professor of Palliative Care at Queen’s University, UK.  Peter’s role at the Centre for Palliative Care is to oversee education initiatives and the development of research programs incorporating palliative care service delivery, psychosocial support and symptom management. The focus of Peter’s role at Queen’s University (UK) is to assist the University with its palliative care research strategy, supervise higher degree students and conduct collaborative international research projects. Peter is a registered nurse with more than twenty-five years experience in palliative care practice, education and research.  He is Vice President of Palliative Care Australia and was a Director of the Board of The International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care. Peter is the Chair of the European Association for Palliative Care’s International Palliative Care Family Caregiver Research Collaboration and he is an international expert advisor to the All Ireland Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care. He has authored numerous international journal publications and has attracted over 10 million dollars in research grant income, including from the National Health and Medical Research Council. Peter is a past recipient of the Premier’s Award for translating evidence into practice.
The World Health Organization advocates that palliative care should improve the quality of life of patients with advanced disease and their family caregivers. However, the provision of support for family caregivers is typically suboptimal resulting in wider negative implications for society. The purpose of Peter’s Fulbright scholarship is to develop a comprehensive strategy to systematically improve support for family caregivers of palliative care patients. This will be achieved by working with Dr Diane Meier, the Director of the USA Center to Advance Palliative Care based in New York. Peter will also collaborate with and visit other key USA stakeholders and universities. It is envisaged that the outcomes of Peter’s Fulbright scholarship will be mutually beneficial for the provision of palliative care in the USA and Australia (and potentially more broadly).