Dr Pierre Mallia is Professor of Family Medicine, Patients’ Rights and Bioethics in the Faculty of Medicine & Surgery, University of Malta, and Chairman of the National Health Ethics Committee of the Ministry of Health, Malta. He teaches in various faculties ranging from Medicine, Laws and Sciences. He is Ethics Advisor to the Medical Council of Malta, an Ethics Reviewer for the European Commission Framework funding, and is Visiting Professor at Lyon University. He is the President of the Malta College of Family Doctors and has received honorary membership of the Royal College of Physicians of London and fellowship of the Royal college of General Practitioners, for work done in biomedical ethics and the ‘advancement of medical education in Malta’. He chairs the Medicine and Law Programme of the Faculty of Laws and Coordinates the Bioethics Research Programme of the Faculty of Medicine & Surgery. He has participated in several EU projects, is on several editorial boards, and has published widely, his recent book being on “The Nature of the doctor-patient relationship” published by Springer. He has participated in several EU funded FP projects, has published over one hundred papers, and appears regularly on local media to discuss medical and ethical issues. He has over 100 television appearances. His primary interests are Philosophy of Medicine, Patients’ Rights, and the advancement of Palliative Care, Care of the Elderly, End of Life issues and Research Ethics in Medicine. He has an interest in influencing clinical practice through such clinical ethics issues as futile treatment at the end of life. He is currently coordinating the EndCare project – an Erasmus project on End of Life issues.