Professor Julia Downing

Chief Executive, International Children’s Palliative Care Network (ICPCN)

Professor Julia Downing is an experienced palliative and cancer care nurse, educationalist, and researcher. She is the Chief Executive of the International Children’s Palliative Care Network (ICPCN) and a Professor in Palliative Care at Makerere University, Uganda. She has extensive experience in Global palliative care, research, and education, and is on the editorial board of e-cancer, APM, and the IJPN. She has been working within palliative care for 30 years, with twenty of those working internationally in Uganda, Africa, Eastern Europe, and globally developing palliative care for adults and children, having moved to Uganda in January 2001.

Professor Downing serves on the Boards of several NGOs including the Worldwide Hospice and Palliative Care Alliance (WHPCA), the African Palliative Care Association UK (APCA UK), e-hospice, and the International Society of Nurses in Cancer Care (ISNCC) and is an Advisor to the International Association of Hospice and Palliative Care. She is a Visiting Professor at Edge Hill University and the University of South Wales in the UK and the University of Belgrade in Serbia. She is also a Senior Honorary Research Fellow with the Cicely Saunders Institute at KCL, and an Honorary Senior Fellow at the University of Edinburgh. She was the recipient of the IJPN’s Development Award in 2006, the ISNCC Robert Tiffany Lectureship in 2014, the Pearl Moore “Making a Difference” International Award for Contributions to Cancer Care from the ONS in 2015, and was recognized as one of eight ‘Change Agents in Cancer Care’ in a publication on Women as Change Agents in Oncology in 2016.

When not working in palliative care, Julia is a musician and is involved in running a music school in Kampala, and various local choirs and orchestras. She is also the Director of Music at her local church. She currently, when there is no pandemic, splits her time between Uganda and the UK.