Professor Harding is Interim Executive Dean of the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care and Herbert Dunhill Chair of Palliative Care & Rehabilitation. Within the Faculty he previously held the post of Vice Dean (International), and Director of the Cicely Saunders Institute. He is Director of the KCL WHO Collaborating Centre for Palliative Care. He is Vice Chair of the World Hospice Palliative Care Alliance and a Trustee of Marie Curie. He holds visiting Chairs in Palliative Care at the University of Cape Town and at Manipal Academy of Higher Education, India.

Richard did his first degree in Social Anthropology and Sociology, followed by a Master's degree in Social Policy and Social Work Studies. After working in adult social care (learning disability, HIV, older people) he undertook his PhD in the Department of Palliative Care Policy & Rehabilitation (the founding department that became the Cicely Saunders Institute). Following a personal fellowship to the Department of Health and Human Services working with the National AIDS Office at the White House via Columbia University, he was part of the team that built PEPFAR. On returning to KCL he developed a research programme focused on developing, delivering and evaluating ways to widen access to timely, high quality and person-centred care for people with life-limiting and life-threatening illness. This has spanned the UK, Europe and particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

Research interests

• Palliative care
• Non-cancer (heart failure, HIV)
• Informal carers
• Complex interventions
• Sub-Saharan Africa
• Person-centred care
• Patient-reported outcomes
• Physical, psychological, social and spiritual problems in long-term conditions
• Models of care that take account of pain

Enquiring about potential PhD supervision

If you’re thinking of applying for one of our PhD programmes and are looking for potential supervisors, please email nmpc_pgr_enquiries@kcl.ac.uk listing the names of the supervisors you’ve identified as having expertise in your chosen area, along with your CV and a short research proposal. 

Our Postgraduate Research Team will contact supervisors on your behalf and get back to you. If you have any queries in the meantime, please use the email address above, rather than contacting potential PhD supervisors directly, because they are unable to respond to initial enquiries.

Research profile