Liz Sampson’s work is supported by the Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Department

Her research focusses on improving care for frail older people, particularly those with dementia who may be reaching the end of their lives. This includes epidemiology and health services research to identify barriers to access to good  quality palliative and end of life care for older people, complex interventions to improve care in a range of settings (particularly hospitals and care homes) and a series of landmark studies on dementia and delirium in older people admitted to the acute hospital.

Liz leads the dementia module on the MScs in MSc in Mental Health Sciences Research and the MSc in Clinical Mental Health Sciences. She supervises MSc and PhD students. She is a member of the Cochrane Dementia and Cognitive Improvement Group (CDCIG) editorial board, the BAP dementia Guideline group and the Lancet Commission on dementia. Liz is the deputy head of the Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Department

Liz works closely with colleagues in UCL Primary Care and Population Health, the wider Division of Psychiatry and PRIMENT clinical trials unit (http://www.priment.mrc.ac.uk/) and with European colleagues through the Pain in Impaired Cognition COST "European Cooperation in the Field of Scientific and Technical Research" network (http://www.cost-td1005.net)

Current major research collaborations include:

-The SEED programme: aims to support professionals to deliver good quality, community-based end of life care in dementia. http://research.ncl.ac.uk/seed  

-The MARQUE study: aims to increase knowledge of agitation, a distressing symptom which occurs in about 50 per cent of people with moderate or severe dementia. The research team will develop, test and implement manuals to train staff about how best to reduce agitation and improve quality of life in care homes and for those people with dementia who are approaching the end of their lives. In addition, the team will mentor and train researchers to build capacity in dementia research. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/psychiatry/marque

-The BHiRCH Programme:  aims to develop and test a complex intervention to reduce rates of avoidable hospital admissions from nursing homes.http://www.bradford.ac.uk/health/dementia/research/bhirch

In 2014 Liz was awarded the William Farr Medal by the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries for research making a significant contribution to improving the care of older people.