Julia Downing is an experienced palliative care nurse, educationalist and researcher, with a Ph.D. that evaluated palliative care training in rural Uganda. She has been working within palliative care for 26 years, with sixteen of those working internationally in Africa, Eastern Europe and globally. She is the chief executive of the International Children's Palliative Care Network (ICPCN) and an honorary professor at Makerere University, Kampala. She has extensive experience in developing palliative care services, policy, clinical care, education and research. She has a particular interest in the role of nurses in palliative care and children's palliative care. She serves on the Boards of several international NGOs, including the International Association of Hospice and Palliative Care (IAHPC) and the Worldwide Hospice and Palliative Care Association (WHPCA), and is the chair of the Palliative Care Research Society. She is also an Honorary Research Fellow at the Cicely Saunders Institute, Department of Palliative Care, Policy and Rehabilitation, at King's College London, and a visiting professor at Edge Hill University, the University of South Wales and the University of Belgrade.