“Reimagining the ABCs of Serious Illness Research: Access, Bridge, Connect”

2022 PaRC Annual Retreat

The 2022 PaRC Retreat was held October 13th, 2022 at the University of Pittsburgh, and brought together 80 attendees across the medical and scientific community to present and discuss current palliative care research, as well as policy opportunities to advance palliative care.


Betty Ferrell

Betty Ferrell is an internationally recognized pioneer in the field of palliative oncology nursing research. She has been in nursing for 44 years and focused her clinical and research expertise in pain management, quality of life, and palliative care.

Dr. Ferrell’s keynote speech entitled “A Program of Clinical Research in Palliative Care” can be streamed here in its entirety.


Pictured Left to Right: Alison Beam, Brynn Bowman, Nancy Zionts, Steve Albert, Erika Fricke

Panel Discussion – “Policy Opportunities to Advance Palliative Care”

  • Moderator: Robert Arnold, MD
    • Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh
    • Chief, Section of Palliative Care and Medical Ethics
    • Medical Director, Palliative and Supportive Care Institute, UPMC
  • Steve Albert, PhD, MA, MS
    • Professor, Behavioral and Community Health Sciences, University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health
    • Phil B. Hallen Endowed Chair in Community Health and Social Justice
  • Alison Beam, JD
    • Senior Vice President and Chief Government Affairs Officer, UPMC
  • Brynn Bowman, MPA
    • Chief Executive Officer, Center to Advance Palliative Care
    • Assistant Professor, Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
  • Erika Fricke
    • Democratic Executive Director for the Pennsylvania House Health Committee
  • Nancy Zionts, MBA
    • Chief Operating Officer and Chief Program Officer, Jewish Healthcare Foundation

Pictured Left to Right: Betty Ferrell, Sarah Bell

The 2022 PaRC Annual Retreat featured poster presentations by 29 PaRC mentees, clinicians, and researchers. All PaRC retreat posters are viewable online in Powerpoint format. Retreat attendees were invited to vote for posters in the following categories:

  • Best Overall Poster
    • Winner: Kelly Harris, “Introducing Uncertainty: An Observational Study of Clinician-Parent Conversations Following Prenatal Diagnosis of Congenital Heart Disease”
  • Poster with the Most Impact on Palliative Care
    • Winner: LeeAnn Chen, “Patient and Provider Perspectives on Symptom Monitoring During Outpatient Cancer Treatment”
  • Poster with the Most Visual Appeal
    • Winner: Tammy Eaton, “Integrating Primary Palliative Care and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) Survivor Care: A Qualitative Inquiry of International Post-ICU Clinical Interprofessional Team Members”
  • Poster Presenter Who Gave the Best Presentation (Two winners)
    • Georgeann Booth, “Characterizing Oncologist Involvement in an Oncology Nurse-Led Primary Palliative Care Intervention”
    • Marika Haranis O’Sullivan, “Development and Implementation of a Real-time Inpatient Palliative Care Screening Process to Identify Earlier Palliative Care Referrals”