Anthony Byrne awarded honorary chair at Cardiff University

We are thrilled to announce that Anthony Byrne, clinical director of our Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Centre at Cardiff University, has been awarded an honorary chair at Cardiff University, according him the title Professor.

A Palliative Medicine physician in Cardiff, Anthony is leads community research at the Wales Cancer Research Centre.  His particular areas of research interest are all aspects of palliative rehabilitation, pragmatic study design and implementation, and patient experience. He was responsible for the development of the palliative and supportive care portfolio within the Wales Cancer Trials Unit as former Scientific Lead and Associate Director and is a member of the Palliative and Supportive Care subgroup of the NCRI Brain CSG. He is also research lead for Palliative Care at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board where his clinical practice is based.

He said: "I’m delighted by this acknowledgement from Cardiff University. It further recognises the success of the Marie Curie Research Centre in undertaking pragmatic, multi-method studies into the needs of palliative care patients and their families. For me it underscores the commitmentof the University to high quality research into complex interventions in  palliative and supportive care, and I’m indebted to my academic colleagues in the Centre for their expertise and huge commitment in realising our ambitions to be at the forefront of those efforts in Wales, and the UK as a whole.

As an NHS clinician the award also, for me, reaffirms the essential nature of collaborations between academia, the NHS and third sector in successfully undertaking and disseminating research  capable of  changing care.  I’m particularly indebted to Marie Curie for our core funding and their continuous mentorship and encouragement over a prolonged period.

I look forward, for the tenure of the title, to supporting expansion of both the depth and reach of our palliative and supportive care portfolio within Cardiff University and the Wales Cancer Research Centre.  In particular I believe there is  now even greater opportunity to strengthen the integration of academic and NHS  research efforts, with closer alignment of strategies and pathways to clinical impact. The title will most definitely support my commitment to those agendas."