Professor Dame Elizabeth Nneka Anionwu is an emeritus professor of nursing at the University of West London. In 1979 she became the first UK sickle cell/thalassaemia nurse counsellor. She is a patron of the Sickle Cell Society and is a life patron of the Mary Seacole Trust. She was awarded a Damehood in 2017 for services to nursing and the Mary Seacole Memorial Statue Appeal and in November 2022 was awarded the Order of Merit. In July 2018, as part of the celebrations for the 70th Anniversary of the National Health Service, she was included in the list of the 70 most influential nurses and midwives in the history of the NHS. She has been awarded six honorary doctorate degrees from UK universities: St Andrews, Manchester, Birmingham City, Brunel, London South Bank and Greenwich. Her memoirs, Dreams From My Mother, were published in 2021 by Orion Books. 

Professor Dame Elizabeth Nneka Anionwu is speaking at the following session on Thursday 24 October:

• Keynote – In conversation with Professor Dame Elizabeth Anionwu: My journey from being in care, to caring, to the Coronation

See the full Nursing Live 2024 agenda