The Institute is a focus of learning and teaching, with undergraduate, postgraduate and other palliative care courses taking place in state of the art teaching facilities on the ground floor. 

Research is focused on the following major areas:

• Evaluating and improving care for people with cancer, respiratory disease, heart failure, liver, kidney and neurological disorders
• Symptom research - Discovering new ways of controlling common distressing symptoms, including pain, breathlessness, nausea, fatigue and spasticity, and undertaking clinical trials into new treatments
• Measuring outcomes - Developing and implementing robust patient-oriented measures of outcomes in palliative care and rehabilitation
• Living and dying in society - Investigating care for older people, support for caregivers, cultural issues in palliative care and other issues reflecting how the way we live and die is changing  

The Institute brings together multidisciplinary clinical palliative care services within King’s Health Partners - Kings College Hospital, and Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Trust.  

King’s Clinical Palliative Care Team, (doctors, nurses and psychosocial workers specially trained in palliative care) is based within the Institute, and provides a seven day a week visiting service to aid teams across the hospital in delivering excellent clinical care to people with advanced disease and their families. 

The Institute also houses a Macmillan Information and Support Centre providing a welcoming and relaxing environment for patients and families seeking information and support.