Plenary Speaker

He's Professor Emeritus of Internal Medicine at the Seoul National University Medical College. His specialty is medical oncology and palliative medicine. He is the author of more than 300 research papers and scientific reviews.
From Dec 2008 to Nov 2011, he had served as a CEO of National Evidence-based Healthcare Collaborating Agency and has involved in many national projects regarding healthcare policies in Korea.
He had worked as the president of the Korean Association for Hospice-Palliative Care from 2014 to 2015. In addition to that, he contributed to legislation of “Act on Hospice and Palliative Care and Decisions on Life-sustaining Treatment for Patients at the End-of-Life”.
From 2015 to 2017, he had served as the president of the Korean Society for Medical Ethics. In addition, he performed a pivotal role in establishing ethics education program at the Seoul National University Medical College and the Hospital Ethics Committee at the Seoul National University Hospital.
He has been the director of the Patient-Centered Clinical Research Coordinating Center supported by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Korea since 2019.

Dr. David Hui is a tenured professor and Director of Research at the Department of Palliative Care, Rehabilitation and Integrative Medicine, with a joint appointment to the Department of General Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, USA. His research interests include integration of supportive/palliative care and oncology, symptom management clinical trials, prognostication, and research methodology. He completed his medical school at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, followed by internal medicine residency at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, medical oncology fellowship at the British Columbia Cancer Agency, and supportive/palliative oncology clinical research fellowship at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. He also has a Master’s degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and a second Master’s degree in Patient Based Biological Research. He is board certified in Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology in Canada and the US, and also Palliative Care and Hospice Medicine in the US.

He is currently the principal investigator of multiple randomized trials on dyspnea and delirium funded by the National Cancer Institute. His research is also supported by the National Institute of Nursing Research, the American Cancer Society and other agencies. He has authored and/or co-authored over 300 scientific papers, with his work appearing at various peer-review journals such as JAMA, JAMA Oncol, J Clin Oncol, CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, Lancet Oncol and Ann Oncol. He is also the author/editor of 4 books (Approach to Internal Medicine, Drugs & Drugs, and Internal Medicine Issues in Palliative Cancer Care, 50 Palliative Care Studies Every Doctor Should Know).

Dr. Hui currently serves as a standing member of a study section at the National Institutes of Health. He is also a senior associate editor of the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management and a board member of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer. In addition to academic pursuits, he remains active clinically in both palliative care and medical oncology.

Professor Wang Ying Wei is the director of the Centre for Palliative Care and medical consultant in Hualien Tzuchi Hospital. He is also the professor in the Department of medical humanities in Tzuchi University. He received his MD degree from National Taiwan University and PhD from Tulane University in US. He completed his residency training in Family Medicine in National Taiwan University Hospital. He was the former Director General in Health Promotion Administration MOHW, and the chief in Heart Lotus Hospice in Tzuchi General Hospital. He started the first Buddhist hospice programme in East Taiwan since 1996. He is the council member of APHN. He developed many innovative programs for geriatric care, palliative care and medical humanities in Taiwan in the past few years. His speciality included palliative care, geriatric care, medical education, and health promotion.

A qualified general practitioner/ family physician and specialist in palliative medicine from the UK, with many years’ experience working in Nepal and South Asia. He is currently living and working in rural Nepal developing a model of primary palliative care. He has a PhD in Health Sciences from Warwick Medical School, UK which he undertook within the Centre for Primary Health Care Studies. His thesis focused on the interface between primary and secondary care in delivering palliative care. He led palliative care research at Warwick Medical School between 2003 and 2013 including evaluating the Gold Standards Framework, an international approach enabling primary care practitioners to provide excellent palliative care. He first worked in Nepal in 1988-1991 and then returned in 2013 since which time he has been working with Nepali colleagues in developing appropriate palliative care. His current academic base is with the Primary Palliative Care Research Group in the Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh. In 2021, together with colleagues in the region he established the Asia Pacific Primary Palliative Care Special Interest Group which has been adopted by APHN.

Yoshi (Yoshiyuki Kizawa) is a Director of the Department of Palliative and Supportive Care at the University of Tsukuba Hospital and the Professor of Palliative Medicine at the University of Tsukuba, Faculty of Medicine. He has been re-elected as President of the Japanese Society for palliative medicine in Japan, which has more than 12000 members. Yoshi leads an education program that aims to acquire basic skills of palliative care for all health care professionals to improve the quality of life of patients and families who are in life-threatening conditions. The national primary palliative care education project namely PEACE (Palliative care Emphasis program on symptom management and Assessment for Continuous medical Education) was launched in 2007 funded by the Japanese government and disseminated all over Japan. Until March 2022, more than 150,000 physicians finished the 2-day education course. This educational project very much contributes improving the integration of palliative care in oncology in our country. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29023634) He also has a strong interest in non-cancer palliative care and advance care planning. He has started implementing a palliative care program for patients with heart failure in his university hospital. Yoshi also leads a National Advance Care Planning Education Project, funded by the Japanese government, namely E-FIELD ( Education for Implementing End-of-life Discussion). (https://www.med.kobe-u.ac.jp/jinsei/acp_kobe-u/acp_kobe-u/acp01/index.html)

As a pediatric oncologist, palliative care physician, and patient-reported outcomes and Phase I and end-of- life care clinical investigator at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Dr Baker is intimately aware of the distress experienced by children with advanced cancer and the communication and end-of-life/bereavement issues surrounding their disease progression. Dr Baker currently serves as the Chief of the Division of Quality of Life and Palliative Care at St. Jude. He was a founding team member of the Quality of Life for All (QOLA) Service – the St. Jude palliative care team. Additionally, he founded and continues to lead the St Jude Bereaved Parent Steering Council and Bereaved Parent Mentoring Program.
His research interests include communication and decision-making in advancing cancer, ethical considerations surrounding enrollment in Phase I clinical trials, AYA palliative oncology care, grief and bereavement issues, integrating palliative care into the ongoing care of children with cancer as well as patient-reported outcomes and pain and symptom control in the context of pediatric oncology care. Dr Baker is an internationally recognized physician-scientist (>250 publications) with extensive research and clinical experience in communication skills training at the intersection of pediatric oncology and palliative care. He has overseen the implementation of >100 clinical research studies at SJCRH. Additionally, he has extensive experience with development and implementation of communication education, including the creation and dissemination and publication of communication skills training at the institution and on national and international platforms. Dr Baker has received many awards for his work including the Hastings Center Cunniff-Dixon Award as well as being named an AAHPM Inspirational Leader in Hospice and Palliative Medicine.
In sum, Dr Baker is a recognized international expert and leader in the field of Pediatric Palliative Oncology as well as a highly sought-after speaker (see TEDxMemphis talk) and mentor with a track record of success.
Dr. Baker has been married to his college sweetheart (beautiful Monny from Monterrey, Mexico) for more than two decades and he and his wife are proud parents of four incredible children. An interesting fact about Dr. Baker is that he likely has more stuffed koala bears than any other individual on the planet and has even has a koala bobblehead and has had numerous koalas “adopted” in his name.