James Beattie has had a long interest in heart failure. He was Clinical Lecturer in Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Birmingham and was appointed Consultant Cardiologist at Heartlands Hospital in 1990. For about 15 years he has had an interest in palliative care for heart failure and for
the past 3 years has been a National Clinical Lead for the NHS Heart Improvement Programme promoting the development of such services across England. He is a member of the Circulatory Forum of the National Council for Palliative Care and the Department of Health End of Life Care Strategy Group. He
is also a member of the British Cardiovascular Society and holds fellowships of the European Society of Cardiology and the Royal Colleges of Physicians of Glasgow and London. Sarah Goodlin is a geriatrician and palliative care physician in Salt Lake City. Dr Goodlin developed the New Hampshire End
of Life Project, a two-year project that initiated a state-wide collaborative to improve end of life care and developed outcome measures for care of persons near the end of life. In 1998 she initiated quality improvement projects for care of the frail elderly and for persons with advanced heart
failure. In 2002 and 2003 Dr Goodlin directed two consensus conferences on Palliative and Supportive Care in Advanced Heart Failure, funded by the Agency for Healthcare Quality and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. She directs the Palliative Care-Heart Failure Education and Research Collaborative,
a national working group of researchers and clinicians formed to improve quality of life and meet the needs of patients with advanced heart failure and their families. Dr Goodlin was also a member ofthe Board of Directors of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.