Editorial introductions

Current Opinion in Supportive and Palliative Care was launched in 2007. It is one of a successful series of review journals whose unique format is designed to provide a systematic and critical assessment of the literature as presented in the many primary journals. The fields of supportive and palliative care are divided into 12 sections that are reviewed once a year. Each section is assigned a Section Editor, a leading authority in the area, who identifies the most important topics at that time. Here we are pleased to introduce the Journal's Section Editors for this issue. SECTION EDITORS David C. CurrowDavid C. CurrowProfessor David Currow is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the Cancer Institute, New South Wales, Australia and Chief Cancer Officer for this state. He has previously had the role of foundation chief executive officer of Cancer Australia, the Australian government's national cancer control agency. He continues to hold the appointment of Professor of Palliative and Supportive Services at Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia. David initially trained as a physician in internal medicine with sub-speciality training in palliative medicine. At the same time, he completed a Master of Public Health exploring changes in the reported incidence of cancer unknown primary in New South Wales over a 25 year time period. Former roles include foundation director of the Nepean Cancer Care Centre, Sydney and area director of Palliative Services Wentworth Area Health Service, Sydney. Since 2000 he has had the Chair of Palliative and Supportive Services at Flinders University where there are more than 200 distance students studying at a post-graduate level around the world from a variety of discipline backgrounds. He has published widely in palliative care journals and the general medical literature. Among other projects, he is Co-Chief Investigator on an anthology of evidence for palliative care practice and service delivery – www.caresearch.com.au. Other research interests include the symptomatic management of dyspnoea, improving population based planning for people with life limiting illnesses and improving the evidence base around which clinical decisions are made in palliative care. David holds grants from the National Health and Medical Research Council, the National Institutes of Health (USA) and the Cancer Councils in Australia. He continues on the Board of the International Association of Hospice and Palliative Care and has been on the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) taskforce on palliative care education. He is a former president of the Clinical Oncological Society of Australia and a former president of Palliative Care Australia, the peak body for palliative care in the country. He is a senior Associate Editor of the Journal of Palliative Medicine. Since October 2006 David has been foundation Chief Executive Officer of Cancer Australia. He, together with a dedicated team are leading the government's agenda in improving coordination of cancer control, targeted research with better coordination between research funders, and consumer engagement. In February 2007, the government also asked Cancer Australia to take leadership of the National Centre for Gynaecological Cancers. The agency currently administers jointly with funding partners more than AU$20m per year in grants for projects and programs to improve cancer service delivery and cancer research. Amy AbernethyAmy AbernethyAmy Abernethy, MD, is Associate Professor with tenure in the Division of Medical Oncology at Duke University School of Medicine and School of Nursing, Director of the Duke Cancer Care Research Program, and Medical Director of Oncology Quality, Outcomes and Patient-centered Care in Duke University Health System, USA. A United States National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded Principal Investigator, Dr Abernethy founded and directs the Duke Cancer Care Research Program, conducting a large portfolio of clinical trials designed to generate evidence-based solutions for common problems confronting people with advanced life-limiting illness. Studies investigate novel agents as well as non-pharmacologic approaches to alleviate symptoms such as dyspnea, pain, and anorexia/cachexia, and study new service delivery models to optimize the cancer patient experience and quality of life. A national expert in cancer health policy and comparative effectiveness research, Dr Abernethy focuses on the use of information technology-enabled systems to simultaneously inform clinical care, research and quality improvement activities. Dr Abernethy is the Co-Principal Investigator for the NIH-funded national Palliative Care Research Cooperative group, founded in 2010, and is responsible for the conduct of its first collaborative clinical trial and development of evaluative metrics. In addition, Dr Abernethy serves on the Board of Directors for the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, and is the Editor-in-Chief of PC-FACS, an electronic journal for palliative care practitioners. She is a practicing hematologist/oncologist and palliative medicine physician. Beverly CollettBeverly CollettDr Beverly Collett is a Consultant in Pain Medicine at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, UK. She is a Council Member and Examiner for the Faculty of Pain Medicine of the Royal College of Anaesthetists. She is immediate Past-Treasurer and Council Member of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP), and was the facilitator for IASP's Global Year against Pain for 2007–2008 ‘Pain in Women’. She was Chair of the IASP SIG ‘Pain of Urogenital Origin’ (PUGO) 2008-2010. She is a Past-President of the British Pain Society and of the International Pelvic Pain Society and previously Honorary Secretary of the European Federation of IASP Chapters. She is Chair of the Chronic Pain Policy Coalition (CPPC) – a group facilitating patients, parliamentarians and health care professionals to improve pain management in the UK. Harvey ChochinovHarvey ChochinovDr Harvey Max Chochinov is a Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Manitoba, Canada and Director of the Manitoba Palliative Care Research Unit, CancerCare Manitoba. His publications addressing psychosocial dimensions of palliation have helped define core-competencies and standards of end-of-life care. He holds the only Canada Research Chair in Palliative Care and is a member of the Governing Council of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Dr Chochinov has been doing palliative care research since 1990 with funding support from local, provincial and national granting agencies. He is currently a grantee of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Canadian Cancer Research Institute. Dr Chochinov has been a guest lecturer in most major academic institutions throughout Canada and around the world. He is the only psychiatrist in Canada to be designated as a Soros Faculty Scholar, Project on Death in America. He is a recipient of the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal and his provinces’ highest honour, the Order of Manitoba, for his work in palliative care. He is the Chair for the Canadian Virtual Hospice, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. In addition to over 200 publications, he is the Co-Editor of the Handbook of Psychiatry in Palliative Medicine, published by Oxford University Press, and the Journal Palliative and Support Care, published by Cambridge University Press. His latest book, Dignity Therapy: Final Words for Final Days, is published by Oxford University Press. Ben CornBen CornDr Corn graduated with honors from the accelerated BA/MD curriculum of Boston University, USA. He completed his residency training in radiation oncology at the combined program of University of Pennsylvania and Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, USA. Currently he serves as Chairman of the Institute of Radiotherapy at Tel Aviv Medical Center and is Professor of Oncology at Tel Aviv University School of Medicine in Israel. Shortly after emigrating from the United States, Ben and his wife Dvora (a Family Therapist) founded Life's Door. This organization (which receives funding from the UJA-Federation of NY for spiritual care programming) functions in the US, Israel, Australia and Canada to transform the experience of life-threatening illness into a process of growth and healing. Since 2008, he has been writing a monthly column (“Last Words”) in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Through that forum he offers philosophical reflections on issues of spirituality, medical humanism and the end-of-life. In recognition of these efforts he was awarded the National Citation of Volunteerism by President Shimon Peres in 2011. Mary VachonMary VachonDr Mary Vachon is a nurse, clinical sociologist, psychotherapist, educator, and cancer survivor. She is currently a Psychotherapist in Private Practice, Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto, Canada and Clinical Consultant at Wellspring. Dr Vachon is the author of numerous scientific articles and book chapters related to bereavement, occupational stress, life-threatening illness, palliative care, survivorship and spirituality. She has written the chapter on The Emotional Needs of the Dying Person for the four editions of The Oxford Textbook of Palliative Medicine and the chapters on occupational stress in many textbooks in supportive care, oncology and palliative care. She is the recipient of many awards including the Mara Morgenson Flaherty Lectureship of the Oncology Nursing Society for Excellence in Psychosocial Oncology in 1985; the Dorothy Ley Award for Excellence in Palliative Care received from the Ontario Palliative Care Association in April 1997; the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization's 2001 Distinguished Researcher Award for her contribution to the field of palliative care from the beginning to the present, and she is the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award of 2008 from the International Journal of Palliative Nursing.

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