2004 - 2007 - Cicely Saunders Institute - King's College London

Dr Suzanne Penfold BSc PhD
Research Fellow
Suzanne originally studied pharmacology at
Southampton University but later changed to a career in
public health research. Her appointments thus far have
taken her to Bristol, Edinburgh and Aberdeen Universities.
During these appointments Suzanne gained
experience of conducting research evaluations in several
aspects of reproductive health, including Scottish male
reproductive health, Scottish teenage sexual health (PhD
research project) and maternal health in developing
countries. In this department she is working with
Richard Harding to undertake an evaluation of PEPFARfunded
services in Kenya and Uganda offering palliative
care for people living with HIV/AIDS. This longitudinal
study explores links between components of care and
health outcomes. Suzanne’s research interests include
reproductive health research, evaluating complex
interventions, health research in developing countries
and infectious disease epidemiology.
Dr Wendy Prentice MBBS, MA, FRCP
Consultant in Palliative Medicine
Wendy qualified in 1992 and has a background in
general medicine and a broad experience of palliative
medicine in a variety of settings. She commenced her
first consultant / honorary clinical senior lecturer post in
the North East in 2002. Within this post she led a multiprofessional
palliative care team working in primary and
secondary care and also developed the undergraduate
palliative medicine curriculum for Newcastle University.
Wendy joined the palliative care team at Kings College
Hospital towards the end of 2006.
Throughout her career Wendy has been interested in the
better integration of specialist palliative care services
within non-specialist settings. She is also interested in
the development and delivery of education, as well as
the various factors influencing end of life decision
making. In 2002 she completed an MA in the Ethics of
Cancer and Palliative Care, her dissertation within this
focused on the issues of justice and resource allocation.
Diana Opio
Research Associate
Dr Wendy Prentice
After training as a nurse Diana completed a degree in
Humanities then joined St Christopher’s Hospice where
she worked as a palliative care nurse for 3 years. She
also undertook a post graduate certificate in education
and completed the diploma in palliative care awarded by
King’s College, London, before proceeding to Leuven in
Belgium where she gained a master’s in applied ethics.
Diana and her family then moved to Uganda where she
was appointed as a lecturer at Uganda Martyrs
University, following which she worked for 3 years as
consultant education advisor at Hospice Africa Uganda
in Kampala developing clinical and distance learning
courses in palliative care. She then moved to The
Mildmay Centre also in Kampala, where she worked for
a further 3 years running the BSc programme ‘A health
systems approach to HIV/AIDS’ with students from
Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania validated by The University
of Manchester. In Uganda her special area of interest
was developing effective palliative home based care
services. During her time in Uganda she also gained a
diploma in health services management run as a
distance learning programme with the RCN.
On returning to the UK, Diana joined in the Department
of Palliative Care, Policy and Rehabilitation in September
2007, and is currently working on a research project
looking at the palliative care needs of the elderly.
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