Dr Lisa Jane Brighton has a BSc in Psychology from the University of Bath, and an MSc in Palliative Care and PhD in Health Services Research from King’s College London. She first worked in health research during her undergraduate placement at Dana-Farber / Harvard Cancer Centre in 2013, and began working at the Cicely Saunders Institute of Palliative Care, Policy and Rehabilitation at King’s College London in 2014.

During this time, Lisa’s research has focused on complex interventions including rehabilitation for people living with chronic respiratory disease, holistic services for people with chronic breathlessness, and communication skills training for healthcare professionals. Lisa also co-developed the first online forum for public involvement in palliative care research, and co-chaired the Cicely Saunders Institute public involvement executive group 2018-2020.

From 2022-2023 Lisa completed an ESRC post-doctoral fellowship in the Department of Psychology, and has now returned to the Cicely Saunders Institute to progress her work around psychologically informed palliative care and rehabilitation. 

Research Interests

• Psychological and social aspects of living with respiratory conditions/symptoms
• Relationship between physical and mental health in people with life-limiting illness
• Rehabilitation in people with life-limiting illness
• Development and evaluation of complex interventions
• Public involvement and co-design in health research

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.

Expertise and Public Engagement

Lisa’s work has informed international guidance, statements, and patient-facing materials around breathlessness in advanced disease and frailty in respiratory disease, via organisations such as the European Respiratory Society, American Thoracic society, and the European Lung Foundation. She has also worked with international colleagues to establish a new European Respiratory Society subgroup for Psychologists and Behavioural Scientists. Lisa has co-led public facing knowledge exchange events and research involvement activities, including at a national level as part of the Applied Research Collaborative Palliative and End of Life Care theme in South London.