Living with Learning Disabilities, Dying with Cancer

Irene Tuffrey-Wijne qualified as a nurse in Amsterdam, and moved to the UK in 1985. She holds a first degree in Palliative Care Nursing and completed a PhD in the palliative care of people with learning disabilities at Maastricht University, The Netherlands. Irene has extensive clinical experience in the fields of both learning disabilities (as a support worker and home manager) and palliative care (as a clinical nurse specialist at a hospice). She now works as a Research Fellow at St George's University of London, leading a programme of research aimed at improving end of life care for people with learning disabilities. She is chair of the Network for Palliative Care of people with Learning Disabilities. Irene lives in London with her husband and three young children.