As the number of older people increases across the world, and more people approach the end of their lives with chronic and complex conditions, the need for robust and relevant research in palliative and end of life care has never been greater. An estimated 19 million people need palliative care worldwide each year,1 and evidence to help provide relief from symptoms and offer support to patients and those close to them at the end of their lives is an ongoing priority.

The UK is considered a world leader in palliative and end of life care provision and research, and has influenced end of life care around the world.2 However, in the UK and all the more advanced countries, there is evidence of shortfalls, highlighting the challenges facing all countries.3 Palliative care is a high priority for the UK National Health Service (NHS) and many other countries; several national guidelines4 have been developed over recent years. A review of end of life care in the UK5 expressed serious concerns about a lack of research in this field and underuse of existing research. However, research in this area is underfunded compared with studies into the prevention and cure of life-limiting conditions. Less than 0.3% of the £500 million spent on cancer research is allocated to palliative care,6 with funding for non-cancer conditions likely to be even less.

Funding leading-edge, needs-led research is essential to improve palliative care across all disease areas. Although the proportion of funding allocated to palliative care research is historically small, funding organisations in the UK, such as the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and the partners within the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI), are helping to address this. Alongside the NCRI, the NIHR is a large funder of palliative care research, …