Dr Gillian Carter is a Lecturer in Chronic Illness in the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Queen’s University Belfast. Gillian has a BSc in Adult Nursing and currently has 12 years’ experience of healthcare research. She contributes to the teaching in undergraduate and post-graduate modules, and also co-ordinates a post-graduate module focusing on Evidence Based Practice. Gillian’s field of research focuses on chronic illness, specifically on communication and decision-making for family carers, the frail elder and patients within palliative care, in particular for individuals affected by dementia. She is also interested in enhancing the provision of support for family carers focusing on the availability of peer support facilities and specifically online peer support interventions, developed through co-design. Research profile