Penny Dacks, Ph.D. is Senior Director of Scientific Initiatives at AFTD where she leads strategy for research initiatives to fund research, recruit and retain talent, advance collaboration, and engage the community with lived experience. On behalf of AFTD, she serves as President of the FTD Disorders Registry LLC, responsible for partnerships, sustainability, and overall success of this affiliated organization. Previously, she worked at the American Epilepsy Society, overseeing mission-related programs in research, medical education, and clinical activities, and at the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation, leading development of CognitiveVitality.org and the Aging & Alzheimer’s Prevention Program to source and evaluate the scientific promise of prospective prevention therapies. She has authored over 30 scientific articles and she trained in neuroscience with a PhD and postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Arizona and the Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai.