Dr Mary Miller - Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Sobell House, Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer in Palliative Medicine, University of Oxford, Director OxCERPC (Oxford Centre for education and research in palliative care) and Clinical Lead for NACEL

Dr Miller qualified from University College Cork, Ireland in 1988. She trained and worked in palliative medicine in Ireland, Sweden and the UK and has been a consultant in palliative medicine in Oxford since 1998. Dr Miller has a strong interest in education; completing a Diploma in Learning and Teaching at Oxford University 2005, was Training Programme Director and Regional Specialty Advisor (2002 – 2008) and has led the Oxford Advanced Courses in Pain and Symptom Management since 2005. She is an elected member of the Education Committee of the Association of Palliative Medicine and joint lead of the postgraduate education special interest forum. Since the inception of OxCERPC in 2017, Dr Miller and the team are focusing on building an exciting portfolio of courses, building research readiness and reaching out to practitioners across the globe.

Deborah Grove - Consultant Nurse for Renal Medicine
Biography to follow

Melinda Presland - Consultant Pharmacist, Palliative & End of Life Care - Oxford University Hospitals 

Melinda qualified from the University of Bradford in 2005, and has worked in many sectors of pharmacy including community, mental health and the prison service. Melinda started her specialist palliative care career in 2009 in a Macmillan palliative care team, focused on providing pharmaceutical support to patients in the primary care setting. Melinda moved to her Consultant Pharmacist post in Oxford in 2019 where she continues to work. Melinda has worked as Senior Clinical Lead in palliative care for NHSE/I, and is chair person of the Association of Supportive and Palliative Care Pharmacy (ASPCP) and is co-lead for the Ambitions Partnership.
Melinda is a qualified non-medical prescriber, and has a Post Graduate Certificate in Clinical Education, which supports her in her passion for planning and delivery of education, both to pharmacists and other health care professionals.

Alex Jones- Cancer Support Specialist

Alex works as a Cancer Support Specialist at Maggie's Oxford providing psychological and practical support to people affected by cancer. She has trained in Depression Care for People with Cancer incorporating Behavioural Activation and Problem-solving Therapy and holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Applied Positive Psychology and Coaching Psychology from the University of East London.

Prior to this she worked for Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust in specialist palliative care, as a staff nurse then ward sister. Since then, she has helped to develop a new oncology depression service as part of the Oxford psychological medicine team, worked in the hospital palliative care team, and as a breast cancer senior specialist nurse.

As a qualified nurse, she holds a First-Class Honours Degree in Adult Nursing and has completed Post Graduate modules in Palliative care, Advanced Communication, Mentoring, and Leadership at Oxford Brookes University. She is a freelance educator within OxCERPC.

*This is the 2025 programme example*

08:50am - Registrations and welcome

09:00am - Dr Annie Pettifer - Hydration towards end of life

09:50am - Break

10:10am - Dr Farzana Virani - Case presentation on Sialorrhea & Motor Neurone Disease

11:05am - Break

11:15am - Dr Mary Miller - Liver Failure and Palliative Care Patients

12:10pm - Break

12:25pm - Dr Aoife Lowney - Kidney Supportive Care: Where have we come from and where are we going?

13:30pm - Q&A