Veronica Dussel is Assistant Investigator for the Department of Pediatrics at Massachusetts General Hospital, and Associate Research Scientist at Dana-Faber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. She coordinates several academic and research projects in the US, Latin America, and Argentina with the common goal of increasing access to palliative care and improving quality of life for children with life-threatening illnesses. Her work gave place to several published articles that have significantly influenced the field, including the first randomized controlled trial to evaluate a palliative care intervention in children with advanced cancer, the description of “normalization” as a key barrier to symptom management, and studies that have evaluated parents’ perspectives on location of death and hastened death, as well as the economic impact of pediatric cancer on families. The results of many of these articles have been incorporated into international guidelines or recommendations.
Dr. Dussel also collaborates with different international research initiatives to develop indicators for palliative care in children, as well as a research network with a focus on advancing pediatric palliative care in Latin America. She leads the Latin American version of the EPEC-Pediatrics course, which recently joined the Pan-American Health Organization and St. Jude’s Research Hospital to continue to multiply palliative care training across the region.
Prior to her current positions at Massachusetts General Hospital and Dana-Faber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Dr. Dussel was Director for the Center for Research and Implementation in Palliative Care (CII-CP) at the Institute of Clinical Effectiveness and Health Policy (IECS) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She earned her medical degree from the University of Buenos Aires School of Medicine and completed a master’s degree in public health/quantitative methods at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston. Following her pediatrics residency, she joined the nascent Palliative Care Unit at Hospital Garrahan, a tertiary level pediatric hospital in the city of Buenos Aires, where she was one of the first appointed attending pediatric palliative care physicians in Argentina.
She has acted as a consultant for public organizations, including the National Cancer Institute of Argentina. Dr. Dussel has been an active member of the Argentinean Palliative Medicine Association, the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, and the National Committee for Pediatric Palliative Care of the Argentinean Society of Pediatrics. In Argentina, she is part of the accreditation board of the pediatric palliative care subspecialty and has participated in the design and implementation of a task force to define the core competencies for pediatric palliative care physicians.
Dr. Dussel joined the IAHPC Board in January 2023.
She enjoys spending time with family and friends, cooking, traveling, and reading.
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How your gift supports the IAHPC mission
Achieved: $24,941
Goal: $30,000
83%
Education
Your gift funds the operational costs of our online courses taught by globally recognized experts who volunteer their time and provide educational resources relevant to palliative care topics. It also supports scholarships that enable palliative care workers to attend educational events and congresses, and allows us to maintain Pallipedia, the free, live, online dictionary.
The goal of this pillar is to implement strategies, resources and tools that will improve the competencies of the global workforce for appropriate palliative care delivery. We have two programs under this pillar plus many other resources for our members.
Your gift enables us to build and strengthen the partnerships that accelerate global, regional, and national advocacy for palliative care. We advocate for its integration into primary health care under universal health coverage and effective access to essential palliative care medicines and packages for people of all ages. Your gift supports our work to prepare delegates and participate in technical consultation meetings of the relevant UN organizations.
The goal this pillar is the integration of palliative care into primary health care within the spectrum of universal coverage to improve access to adequate care for patients in need. We offer the following to our members:
Documents on Human Rights and Access to Medicines and Care
Research
Your gift enables us to continue doing research that provides guidance and recommendations for action, based on responses from the global palliative care community. Such research includes our recent evaluation of the impact of euthanasia and assisted dying practices on palliative care workers and the use of essential medicines for palliative care. It also supports the costs of publications focused on research relevant to palliative care.
The goal of this pillar is to design and implement projects that lead to the integration of palliative care into health policies, resolutions, and key documents. Our studies help us provide guidance and recommendations, and take action based on the responses from the global palliative care community.
Your membership enables you to participate in IAHPC projects such as the:
Your gift enables us to continue our in-depth reporting and book reviews in Pallinews, as well as media campaigns that raise awareness about the need to increase access to care and support for patients and families.
We are a small organization that allocates over 80% of our budget to mission driven programs and to the maintenance of our free website. We need operational funding to continue the work.
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IAHPC members: When you gift a 2-year membership to a colleague in a low- or middle-income country, we extend your membership by 6 months.