PHPCI Awards - 2026
The PHPCI Awards recognise PHPCI members from around the world who have recently made, or are currently making, an outstanding contribution to public health palliative care. This year, winners were honoured at the 9th PHPCI International Conference in Taipei City, Taiwan (6-9 October 2026).
Candidates could apply themselves or be nominated by a supervisor, mentor, or colleague. Each applicant completed a submission form for the relevant award. A sub-group of the PHPCI committee then reviewed all applications and selected one winner per category.
Congratulations to all our winners, and thank you to everyone who applied or nominated a colleague. Meet them below!
*All award illustrations created by Ekkapop Sittiwantana
PHPCI Research Impact Award: Professor Samar Aoun
Professor Aoun’s Compassionate Communities Connectors Programme has strengthened partnerships between formal and informal care and reduced hospital admissions and bed days. Her work has been adopted internationally, led to the founding of Compassionate Communities Australia, and shaped how the field approaches bereavement care and grief literacy.
PHPCI Early Career Research Award: Dr. Clément Meier
Dr. Meier is making the end of life more visible in population research. Through large-scale longitudinal data and his work on end-of-life health literacy, he is helping make care and planning more equitable and informed, and he is harmonizing end-of-life survey measures across international ageing studies.
PHPCI Community Building Early Public Health Palliative Care Practitioner Award: Dr. Gowthami Palnati
Dr. Gowthami Palnati has built a model of community-based palliative care within primary healthcare, reaching rural, tribal, and urban-slum communities across Karnataka, India. She also trains and mentors colleagues and serves on a state Advisory Committee for Palliative Care, helping shape policy.
PHPCI Community Building Practice Leadership Award: Wanna Jarusomboon
With more than 20 years of experience, Wanna Jarusomboon has grown from researcher to system-level convenor, leading Peaceful Death and a national ecosystem for death literacy in Thailand. Her vision of a Social Infrastructure for Living and Dying Well helped draw 30,159 participants to Death Fest in March 2026.
PHPCI Community Building Award, Organization/Partnership: COMPASS-Ghana
Working across seven districts, COMPASS-Ghana was the judges’ clear front runner for impact and reach. Its programme rests on five pillars: community ownership, workforce development, institutional partnerships, data systems, and policy alignment. Deep, multi-sector partnerships and inclusive practice make it locally embedded and built to last.