Dr Martin Loučka is Director of Center for Palliative Care, a research, educational and advocacy NGO based in Prague, Czech Republic. He is also an Assistant Professor of Medical Psychology at 3rd Faculty of Medicine at Charles University in Prague. He is a board member of European Association for Palliative Care and Research Secretary of Czech Society for Palliative Medicine. His background is in psychology and social work, and he completed his PhD in Health Research at the International Observatory on End of Life Care at Lancaster University in 2014. In his current research, Dr Loučka is focused on factors influencing prognostic awareness and communication between clinicians and patients with serious illness.