About us
Our centre, led by Professor Simon Noble and Professor Andrew Carson-Stevens and supported by Dr Michelle Edwards and Dr Emily Harrop, is based at the School of Medicine at Cardiff University.
We develop and support well designed research and conduct pragmatic studies which will translate into better patient-focused palliative and end of life care. We collaborate with healthcare professionals, patients, and families to explore how care can be improved for anyone affected by death, dying, and bereavement. Our work includes studies on service delivery, patient experiences, and the development of supportive interventions to ensure compassionate, person-centred care. We also play a key role in influencing health policy and practice, both in Wales and across the UK.
We are proud to foster a collaborative, supportive, and inclusive culture within our own team.
Research
Our research is structured into the themes of Thrombosis, Safe and Effective Care, Caregiving and Bereavement, and Death Literacy. For more information on our research, please see our research page.
Our team
Directors
Professor Simon Noble, lead of the Thrombosis theme, is a leading figure in palliative and supportive oncology, serving as the Director of the Division of Population Medicine at Cardiff University and Director of the Marie Curie Research Centre. He is also the UK Medical Director of Thrombosis UK and an honorary consultant at Aneurin Bevan University Health Board in Gwent. His work has significantly influenced both clinical practice and health policy in the UK and internationally.
Professor Andrew Carson-Stevens is Director of the World Health Organization Collaboration Centre for Patient Safety Learning and Improvement. He leads the Safe and Effective Care research theme at the Marie Curie Research Centre focussed on: conceptualising harm and risk, including the investigation and measurement of healthcare-associated harm experienced by patients and families; and understanding how to optimise care and reduce avoidable unscheduled and emergency care admissions for those with palliative and end of life care needs.
Theme leads
Dr. Emily Harrop is a Senior Research Fellow who leads the caregiving and bereavement theme at the Marie Curie Research Centre. Her work focuses on examining the experiences and support needs of individuals and families facing advanced illness and loss, with a particular interest in developing evidence and interventions to improve support.
Research staff
Dr Stephanie Sivell is a Research Fellow at Cardiff University’s Marie Curie Research Centre. With a background in health psychology and expertise in mixed-methods approaches, she conducts research on palliative and supportive care in oncology. Her work focuses on understanding patient preferences and what matters most to them, to improve decision-making and care in vulnerable populations. Her particular interests include the development, measurement and evaluation of core outcomes in the brain tumour population. She is also Deputy Lead for Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity (EDI) in the Division of Population Medicine and member of the School of Medicine’s EDI Committee.
Daniella is an experienced social researcher and lecturer with a background in social science and policy. Daniella has established expertise within health and care research with a focus on qualitative methods. This has included coproducing and testing complex interventions, systematic reviews, qualitative research for clinical trials, and questionnaire design and analysis. Her current research focuses on experiences along cancer and end of life pathways with a specific interest in death literacy.
Mala is a Systematic Reviewer with considerable experience in undertaking a wide range of evidence synthesis projects in public health, clinical and social care over many years. Her research expertise is in advanced literature searching and the development of evidence synthesis methodologies. She leads the Specialist Unit for Review Evidence (SURE) team at Cardiff University.
Silvia is a social scientist working in end of life and bereavement-related research. Her current research interests include the long-term grief experiences and support needs of those bereaved during the Covid-19 pandemic, support needs of young carers at the end of life and public attitudes to death, dying and bereavement, including grief education in schools.
Elin is a qualitative researcher, working in palliative care, with a particular interest in experiences of patients with cancer. She also has a background in pharmacology. Research interests include qualitative and mixed methods research, patient and family experiences of cancer, cancer associated thrombosis, and development of core outcome sets.
Jennifer’s work is centred on the anthropology and ethics of care, in which she explores the crafting of care and its limits in medical settings. Her work, in this context, is concerned with the beginnings and endings of life and her field sites have included midwifery clinics and palliative care wards in South Africa and the United Kingdom.
Cathryn is a Health Psychologist and experienced qualitative researcher. She has a particular interest in improving psychological support for people with serious illnesses and intervention development and evaluation. She has worked with people who have neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson's disease and Motor Neurone Disease and people with various illnesses receiving palliative care.
For general enquiries
To contact us, please email mariecuriecentre@cardiff.ac.uk.
