Challenges to the Global Issue of End of Life Care: Training and Implementing Change (Advancing Global Bioethics, 17)

Bert Gordijn is Professor and Director of the Institute of Ethics at Dublin City University in Ireland. He has studied Philosophy and History in Utrecht, Strasbourg and Freiburg in Breisgau. In 1995 he was awarded a doctorate in Philosophy from the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, followed by a doctorate in Bioethics from the Radboud University Nijmegen in 2003. Bert has been a Visiting Professor at Lancaster University (UK), Georgetown University (USA), the National University of Singapore, the Fondation Brocher (Switzerland), and Yenepoya University (Mangalore, Karnataka, India). He has served on Advisory Panels and Expert Committees of the European Chemical Industry Council, the European Patent Organisation, the Irish Department of Health and UNESCO. Bert is Editor-in-Chief of two book series: The International Library of Ethics, Law and Technology and Advances in Global Bioethics as well as a peer reviewed journal: Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy, all published by Springer Nature. He is Secretary of the European Society for Philosophy of Medicine and Healthcare and President of the International Association of Education in Ethics.

Dr. Francesca Pistoia completed her degree summa cum laude in medicine and surgery, and thereafter specialized in neurology summa cum laude, at the University of L'Aquila. She earned a PhD in Internal Medicine and Applied Immunology at the same University. Currently she holds the position of Assistant Professor of Neurorehabilitation at the University of L'Aquila. So far, she has contributed to 95 papers (83 in peer-reviewed international journals and 12 on italian journals); 80 papers are indexed in Pubmed). She also presented her results at national and international congresses (resulting in 71 abstracts and communications). H-index (Scopus): 21. Her research is mainly focused on the topic of diagnosis, prognosis and rehabilitation of patients with severe brain injury with the aim of implementing validated assessment tools to identify physical, cognitive and behavioural disabilities and quantify rehabilitation-related outcomes. Research topics include: the evaluation of patients with disorders of consciousness (vegetative state and minimally conscious state) as a consequence of severe brain injury: her studies in this area have been aimed at evaluating the neurobiological and behavioral factors, which may influence the recovery of consciousness, and the implementation of new therapeutical approaches including brain computer interfaces; the identification of disorders of motor imagery and the perception of emotions in patients with locked-in syndrome. She also contributed to research addressing the epidemiology of cerebrovascular diseases and of Parkinson's disease in population-based registries, and the role of comorbidities in headache pathogenesis and of behavioral therapies in patients with chronic headache. She serves as a member of the Ethical Committee of the University of L’Aquila.