Emily Johnston M.D., MS, assistant professor in the Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, was recently named as director of Pediatric Palliative Care Research and Education within the Center for Palliative and Supportive care.

In that role, she will develop the pediatric palliative care research program at UAB and expand the difficult conversation training among pediatrics providers at UAB. She is also now serving on the Executive and Steering Committees of the Center for Palliative and Supportive Care.

Through research and difficult news education, I hope to improve palliative and end-of-life care for children served by Children’s of Alabama and UAB Department of Pediatrics,” said Johnston. “In particular, UAB is becoming a national leader in pediatric palliative care research - ensuring that our patients have access to palliative care clinical trials and are represented in the palliative care literature. Further, we hope that all clinicians caring for children at Children’s of Alabama will be trained on how to share evidenced-based difficult news.”