AFTD 2022 Education Conference: April 8, 2022

The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration (AFTD) will hold its 2022 Education Conference on Friday, April 8, 2022. This will be a hybrid event with in-person attendance at the BWI Airport Marriott in Linthicum, Maryland.

Online participation is free to all who register. There is a $75 registration fee to attend in person. AFTD offers modest financial assistance through Comstock Travel Grants for people with FTD and care partners interested in attending the conference in person. These grants can be used to cover the cost of travel, lodging, and conference fees.

Whether you attend online or in person, the conference will offer the latest information on frontotemporal degeneration (FTD) and practical strategies to handle the FTD journey.

Highlights include:

• Presentations focusing on the latest strides in FTD research, the diverse FTD care partner experience, and the language of dementia
• Interactive breakout sessions that take an in-depth look at key aspects of the FTD journey
• Vital perspectives from people living with FTD, shared by AFTD’s Persons with FTD Advisory Council

SPEAKERS

The conference keynote speaker is Rita Choula, MA, Director of Caregiving with the AARP Public Policy Institute. She manages and provides content expertise on family caregiving initiatives, specifically focused on identifying and supporting the needs of multicultural family caregivers.

Rita’s mother was diagnosed with behavioral variant FTD (bvFTD) and passed away in October 2020. Rita understands the balancing act that people with loved ones diagnosed with FTD must juggle, having served as her mother’s caregiver for several years while working full time and parenting two young children. She joined AFTD’s Board of Directors in 2021.

Additional speakers:

• Chiadi Onyike, MD, MHS, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins University, Director of the Johns Hopkins Young-Onset Dementias Program
• David Irwin, MD, Principal Investigator of the Penn Digital Neuropathology Lab, attending cognitive neurologist in the University of Pennsylvania’s Frontotemporal Degeneration Center
• Tania Gendron, PhD, Mayo Clinic in Florida, Translational Neurobiology of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Dementia Laboratory
• Angela Taylor, Senior Director of Research and Advocacy, Lewy Body Dementia Association, co-chair of the Dementia Nomenclature Initiative Steering Committee
• Laynie Dratch, ScM, CGC, Genetic Counselor, University of Pennsylvania’s Frontotemporal Degeneration Center

In-person attendance limited

A limited number of people will be able to attend this event on-site in Baltimore. Registration will be on a first-come, first-served basis. Should in-person registration fill up, a waitlist will be available.

Proof of full COVID-19 vaccination will be required for all in-person attendees. Attendees will be required to complete a brief symptom screening on the day of the event, and masks will be required. The event will be held in compliance with all federal, state, and local regulations.

For those who want to spend the night, the BWI Airport Marriott is offering special room rates for AFTD guests. These rates will expire on March 11, 2022.

Virtual attendance registration ends April 2, 2022

For those attending online via the free internet broadcast, the virtual platform will have the ability to connect with other attendees both individually and in group settings.

Additionally, AFTD will record many of the sessions and make them available after the conference.

The deadline to register for the online event is Saturday, April 2, 2022.

AGENDA

• 9:00 a.m. - Welcome
• 9:15 a.m. - Introduction
• 9:30 a.m. - Guess Who’s Here? We’re Still Here!: AFTD’s Persons with FTD Advisory Council
• 10:00 a.m. - What’s in a Name? The Dementia Nomenclature Initiative
• 10:20 a.m. The Diverse FTD Care Partner Experience
• 11:00 a.m. - Break
• 11:15 a.m. - Morning Breakouts
• 12:00 p.m. - Lunch
• 1:00 p.m. - Special video presentation featuring Parker McKay
• 1:15 p.m. - Navigating the Uncertainty of Familial FTD
• 1:45 p.m. - Biomarkers: The Next Frontier of FTD Research
• 2:30 p.m. - Break
• 2:45 p.m. - Afternoon Breakouts
• 3:30 p.m. - Break
• 3:45 p.m. - FTD Treatment Development: How Can You Help?
• 4:15 p.m. - Keynote Address: A Call for Bold Empowerment
• 4:45 p.m. - AFTD’s 20th Anniversary: Where We Started, Where We Are, and Where We’re Going
• 5:30 p.m. - In-person Reception

MORNING BREAKOUTS

In-person:

• Meaningful Connection and Adapted Communication with PPA
• Caring from the Other Side of the Fence

In-person and Virtual

• What I’ve Learned by Supporting Others: A Care Partner Panel Discussion

Virtual

• Distinguishing bvFTD from Psychiatric Disorders
• Finding Support through Neuropalliative Care

AFTERNOON BREAKOUTS

In-person:

• Open Discussion for FTD Care Partners
• Building FTD-Friendly Communities

In-person and Virtual:

• Participating in FTD Research, Advancing FTD Science

Virtual

• What Do Families Need Most After an FTD Diagnosis?
• Coping with Role Changes in FTD

Additional information about the speakers, the agenda, and the breakout sessions can be found on the AFTD’s conference webpage.

If you have questions about registration or the conference, email conference@theaftd.org or call 866-507-7222.