CPFT nurse becomes assistant professor at the University of Cambridge | News

CPFT nurse becomes assistant professor at the University of Cambridge

Dr Ben Bowers, CPFT's honorary nurse consultant in palliative care, has been appointed to the role of Assistant Professor of Primary Care within the Primary Care Unit at the University of Cambridge Department of Public Health and Primary Care.

Ben (pictured) is the first nurse to hold such a post with the University of Cambridge and is building research capacity within nursing and the Trust's Older People and Adult Community services. In his new senior clinical academic leadership role, Ben will continue his research with CPFT to address complex, system-wide end-of-life care problems and work with our nursing teams to improve care for people dying at home. 

Ben said: "I'm delighted to be taking on a senior research leadership role within a world-leading, interdisciplinary department. This highlights the value and unique insights nursing teams and clinical academic nurses bring in advancing evidence-based, person-centred care. I would encourage anyone working in healthcare to become research active in practice, starting with a service evaluation or improvement project. That’s how my research journey began when working as a community nurse in Cambridgeshire. If you are a healthcare professional and have an idea for understanding and improving palliative care locally and want advice on where to start, do get in touch!”

As Deputy Theme Lead of Palliative and End-of-Life Care at the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration East of England, Ben is working on research projects around the region. He also co-founded and leads the QICN’s Community Nursing Research Forum which offers free research support and resources to all nursing staff. Ben was awarded the prestigious title of Fellow of the Queen’s Institute of Community Nursing (QICN) in 2024. 

CPFT’s Chief Nurse Rachel Gomm said: “It is fantastic that a member of our nursing team is the first to achieve an assistant professor role with the University of Cambridge and we are very proud of Ben. This role rewards and recognises his commitment to community nursing research and improving palliative care for people at home. We hope he will inspire many other nurses to develop in research to advance practice as he shares his knowledge and expertise with CPFT.”

In October, Ben will be chairing day three of the QICN Annual Conference 2025 online, dedicated to community nursing and research. Register for the conference here.

  • If you would like to discuss a community nursing research idea with Ben, contact him at: bb527@medschl.cam.ac.uk
  • To join the QICN’s Community Nursing Research Forum, click here.

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