Research

The Harvard Medical School Center for Palliative Care (HMS CPC) is pleased to bring together researchers from across the Harvard Medical School system. We are committed to serving an active research community by encouraging collaboration, mentoring, and sharing of knowledge. We convene events and create opportunities for researchers to connect with one another, to find partners and mentors, and to build successful research careers.

In September 2023, the HMS CPC hosted its inaugural Research Workshop entitled, “Palliative Care Research: Trials and Tribulations”, organized by the HMS CPC Research Committee. The program convened nearly 100 researchers from institutions throughout the Harvard Medical School network and from other local and national organizations, including the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Mass General Brigham, Boston Children’s Hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, US Department of Veteran Affairs, American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, Ariadne Labs, Boston University, Hebrew Senior Life Marcus Institute for Aging Research, St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, and UMass Medical School.

With the success of the inaugural Research Workshop, the HMS CPC established this as an annual event to bring palliative care researchers together, to focus on high-priority topics, and to encourage collaboration. The 2024 theme was, “Building Teams and Developing Collaborations” and the 2025 theme was, “Controversies and Common Ground in Serious Illness Research”. Each of the HMS CPC Research Workshops has featured palliative care researchers from across the Harvard Medical School network as presenters, panelists, and breakout session leaders. The HMS CPC Research Workshops have included opportunities for researchers to share their work and to invite colleagues to explore collaborative possibilities.

The HMS CPC supports two NCI-funded courses for palliative care researchers: Research Methods in Supportive Oncology and the Advanced Workshop on Research Skills in Oncology.