Qualifications
- MBBS (University of Manchester)
- MD
Summary
Miriam Johnson is Professor of Palliative Medicine at Hull York Medical School, and Associate Director of the Wolfson Palliative Care Research Centre at the University of Hull. She is Adjunct Professor of Palliative Medicine at the University Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
For twenty years (2000 to 2020), she also provided consultant palliative physician services to Scarborough General Hospital and Saint Catherine's Hospice, Scarborough where she set up one of the UK’s first integrated palliative care services for people with heart failure.
Journal Article
Complex breathlessness intervention in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (BREEZE-IPF): a feasibility, wait-list design randomised controlled trial
Crooks, M. G., Wright, C., Hart, S., Allgar, V., English, A., Swan, F., Dyson, J., Richardson, G., Twiddy, M., Cohen, J., Simpson, A., Huang, C., Sykes, D. L., & Johnson, M. (2025). Complex breathlessness intervention in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (BREEZE-IPF): a feasibility, wait-list design randomised controlled trial. BMJ Open Respiratory Research, 12(1), Article e002327. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjresp-2024-002327
BREATHLEssness in INDIA (BREATHE-INDIA): realist review to develop explanatory programme theory about breathlessness self-management in India
Clark, J., Salins, N., Sherigar, M., Williams, S., Pearson, M., Rao, S. R., Spathis, A., Bhat, R., Currow, D. C., Fraser, K., Simha, S., & Johnson, M. J. (2025). BREATHLEssness in INDIA (BREATHE-INDIA): realist review to develop explanatory programme theory about breathlessness self-management in India. NPJ Primary Care Respiratory Medicine, 35(1), Article 13. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41533-025-00420-2
Harms of Morphine for Chronic Breathlessness in Relation to Dose, Duration and Titration Phase
Ekström, M., Alameri, F., Chang, S., Ferreira, D., Johnson, M. J., & Currow, D. C. (in press). Harms of Morphine for Chronic Breathlessness in Relation to Dose, Duration and Titration Phase. Journal of pain and symptom management, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2025.02.020
ERS guideline recommendation on airflow for breathlessness: the pitfalls of applying GRADE evidence ratings to complex non-pharmacological interventions
Luckett, T., Swan, F., Clark, J., Roberts, M., Pearson, M., Hutchinson, A., Currow, D., Kochovska, S., Crooks, M., Smith, T., & Johnson, M. (2025). ERS guideline recommendation on airflow for breathlessness: the pitfalls of applying GRADE evidence ratings to complex non-pharmacological interventions. European respiratory journal, 65(2), Article 2402244. https://doi.org/10.1183/13993003.02244-2024
"I'm living in a 'no' world now…"- A qualitative study of the widespread impact of living with chronic breathlessness, and experiences of identification and assessment of this symptom in an older, frail community-based population
Elliott-Button, H., Johnson, M. J., Hutchinson, A., Currow, D. C., & Clark, J. (2025). "I'm living in a 'no' world now…"- A qualitative study of the widespread impact of living with chronic breathlessness, and experiences of identification and assessment of this symptom in an older, frail community-based population. NPJ Primary Care Respiratory Medicine, 35(1), Article 5. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41533-024-00409-3
Research interests
Miriam's research interests include:
mechanisms, management of and services for breathlessness and other neglected symptoms such as delirium;
inequalities in palliative care service provision e.g. for people with non-malignant disease such as heart failure and respiratory disease, and the use of needs assessment tools;
methods to conduct high quality palliative care research;
the social impact of advanced disease on the individual and their family and friends
Projects employ a wide range of research methodologies (clinical trials of drug or complex interventions, qualitative studies, observational, secondary data analysis, data linkage studies) and collaborative partners are involved across different disciplines and countries. She has published widely and holds grants from a variety of bodies (NIHR, NHMRC, Dunhill Medical Trust, Marie Curie Cancer Care/CRUK, Yorkshire Cancer Research, British Heart Foundation).
Lead investigator
Project
Funder
Grant
Started
Status
Project
PrimaryBreathe: programme to develop and test a brief remote primary care intervention for chronic breathlessness
Funder
NIHR National Institute for Health Research
Grant
£171,920.00
Started
1 September 2022
Status
Ongoing
Project
I3: Building Critical Mass, Increasing Scale and Impact for Palliative Care through International Collaboration
Funder
Research England
Grant
£403,507.00
Started
1 August 2019
Status
Complete
Project
RDSI: A randomised controlled trial to determine the clinical and cost effectiveness of a self-management intervention for the respiratory distress symptom cluster (breathlessness-cough-fatigue) in lung cancer
Funder
NIHR National Institute for Health Research
Grant
£29,547.00
Started
1 January 2017
Status
Complete
Project
CANAssess: Reducing inequalities in care for people with cancer and palliative care needs: a programme of work for cancer patients and caregivers in the community based in Yorkshire
Funder
YCR Yorkshire Cancer Research
Grant
£277,985.00
Started
1 September 2016
Status
Complete
Project
BreatheMOR: Morphine for the relief of breathlessness in stable chronic heart failure
Funder
British Heart Foundation
Grant
£299,581.00
Started
1 October 2013
Status
Complete
Project
NAT ILD: The adaption and validation of an assessment tool to identify the palliative care needs of people with irreversible idiopathic interstitial lung disease for use in every day clinical practice
Funder
CRUK Cancer Research UK
Grant
£117,454.00
Started
1 June 2014
Status
Complete
Project
HIDDEN: Hospice Inpatient Deep vein thrombosis detection study
Funder
York Health Services NHS Trust
Grant
£112,940.00
Started
27 May 2016
Status
Complete
Project
BETTER B: BETter TreatmEnts for Refractory Breathlessness
Funder
CRUK Cancer Research UK
Grant
£30,593.00
Started
1 October 2016
Status
Complete
Project
Caring together evaluation project
Funder
British Heart Foundation
Grant
£166,499.00
Started
1 December 2014
Status
Complete
Project
MABEL: A Parallel Group, Double-blind, Randomised Placebo-controlled Trial Comparing The Efficacy And Cost effectiveness
Funder
NIHR National Institute for Health Research
Grant
£731,726.00
Started
1 March 2019
Status
Complete
Project
An educational resource about palliative care needs of men with prostate cancer: supporting the patient living with prostate cancer
Funder
Prostate Cancer UK
Grant
£29,622.00
Started
1 December 2017
Status
Complete
Project
TRANSFORM: Improving shared decision-making in malignant bowel obstruction: An exploration of context-specific treatment pathways and experiences to inform intervention development for person-centred care
Funder
YCR Yorkshire Cancer Research
Grant
£210,701.00
Started
1 September 2021
Status
Complete
Project
BREATHE-INDIA: BREATHlEssness in INDIA - Development of a breathlessness beliefs and behaviour education intervention for use in the community-setting
Funder
MRC Medical Research Council
Grant
£110,912.00
Started
1 October 2022
Status
Complete
Project
CANAssess PC2: Cancer Needs Assessment in Primary Care
Funder
YCR Yorkshire Cancer Research
Grant
£481,344.00
Started
1 July 2019
Status
Complete
Project
BETTER-B: BETter TreatmEnts for Refractory Breathlessness
Funder
EC European Commission
Grant
£56,859.00
Started
1 January 2019
Status
Complete
Co-investigator
Project
Funder
Grant
Started
Status
Project
Supporting, enabling and sustaining home care workers to deliver end-of-life care: amultiple-methods community-based case study
Funder
NIHR National Institute for Health Research
Grant
£596,722.00
Started
1 October 2022
Status
Ongoing
Project
SERENITY: Towards cancer patient empowerment for optimal use of antithrombotic therapy at the end of life
Funder
UKRI UK Research and Innovation
Grant
£198,784.00
Started
1 October 2022
Status
Ongoing
Project
Health inequalities related to ethnicity and socio-economic position at the end-of-life
Funder
Academy of Medical Sciences
Grant
£29,979.00
Started
1 March 2022
Status
Ongoing
Project
NIHR Policy Research Unit (PRU) for Palliative and End of Life Care
Funder
NIHR National Institute for Health Research
Grant
£770,949.00
Started
1 January 2024
Status
Ongoing
Project
BREEZE 2: A randomised controlled trial of a complex intervention to manage breathlessness in pulmonary fibrosis
Funder
NIHR National Institute for Health Research
Grant
£397,551.00
Started
1 April 2024
Status
Ongoing
Project
DAMPen-D II: Improving the Detection, Assessment, Management, and Prevention of Delirium in Palliative Care Units: a cluster Randomised-Controlled Trial, Economic Analysis and Process Evaluation
Funder
NIHR National Institute for Health Research
Grant
£2,142,656.00
Started
1 October 2024
Status
Ongoing
Project
Yorkshire & Humber ARC - 18M extension (Palliative)
Funder
NIHR National Institute for Health Research
Grant
£30,310.00
Started
1 October 2024
Status
Ongoing
Project
FRAIL-HEART: Assessment of Frailty in Elderly People with Ischemic Heart Disease being considered for Revascularisation: An Observational study
Funder
Hull & East Riding Cardiac Trust Fund
Grant
£10,201.00
Started
1 April 2017
Status
Complete
Project
BREATHE: Breathlessness RElief AT HomE
Funder
NIHR National Institute for Health Research
Grant
£232,098.00
Started
1 April 2019
Status
Complete
Project
RESOLVE: Improving Health Status and Experience of Pain and other Symptoms for People with Advanced Cancer
Funder
YCR Yorkshire Cancer Research
Grant
£623,225.00
Started
1 June 2018
Status
Complete
Project
RAMBO: Research Assessment Outcome Measures for Malignant Bowel Obstruction
Funder
Marie Curie Cancer Care
Grant
£85,791.00
Started
1 July 2019
Status
Complete
Project
CS-Y Studies: Understanding and reducing inequalities for people with cancer: A programme of work based in Yorkshire
Funder
YCR Yorkshire Cancer Research
Grant
£749,827.00
Started
1 August 2013
Status
Complete
Project
TRANSFORM: Detecting, preventing, and managing delirium in specialist palliative care units: Co-design and feasibility study of a flexible and scalable implementation strategy to deliver guideline-adherent delirium care
Funder
YCR Yorkshire Cancer Research
Grant
£106,864.00
Started
15 February 2021
Status
Complete
Project
Adapting a smartphone-based rehabilitation programme for older adults living with and beyond cancer: an intervention development study
Funder
NIHR National Institute for Health Research
Grant
£135,659.00
Started
1 April 2022
Status
Complete
Project
Exploring ‘the domestic’ in contemporary hospice architecture: a critical examination of the architecture and design of in-patient palliative care facilities in England.
Funder
Wellcome Trust
Grant
£107,238.00
Started
20 September 2021
Status
Complete
Project
The Yorkshire & Humber Palliative Care Research Network: Addressing Inequalities Across All Ages
Funder
NIHR National Institute for Health Research
Grant
£98,332.00
Started
1 March 2022
Status
Complete
Project
Living well with chronic breathlessness: Improving the sustainable use of supported self-management strategies
Funder
NIHR National Institute for Health Research
Grant
£168,478.00
Started
1 March 2023
Status
Complete
Project
Publication Costs Award
Funder
YCR Yorkshire Cancer Research
Grant
£1,800.00
Started
11 April 2022
Status
Complete
Postgraduate supervision
Topics relate to research interests
Miriam has been primary supervisor for ten successfully awarded PhD student/fellows, and three MSc students , and co-supervisor for a further four postgraduates (five PhD ; one MPhil; one MD).
She is currently primary supervisor to two PhD fellows/students and co-supervisor to four PhD students.