AFTD Welcomes Rosa Canet-Avilés, Ph.D., as Senior Director of Scientific Initiatives

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The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration

Feb 06, 2020, 13:49 ET

KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa., Feb. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- We are very pleased to announce that Rosa Canet-Avilés, Ph.D., has joined The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration (AFTD) as our first Senior Director of Scientific Initiatives.

Dr. Canet-Avilés will oversee scientific operations and strategy development with a focus on expanding partnerships to enable AFTD to improve how therapies targeting FTD—the most common dementia under 60—are brought to the clinic.

"AFTD's work presents an amazing opportunity to shift the paradigm for drug development targeting dementia, and bring life-changing treatments for the people we serve," said Dr. Canet-Avilés. "I'm very excited to join the organization at this pivotal moment in dementia research."

Dr. Canet-Avilés joins AFTD from the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH), where she served as the Director of Neuroscience Research Partnerships and held responsibility for FNIH's Neuroscience Research Partnership portfolio. In this capacity, she developed and managed the Accelerating Medicines Partnership (AMP) for Alzheimer's Disease, AMP Parkinson's Disease, AMP Schizophrenia, the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, and the Biomarkers Consortium Neuroscience Steering Committee.

Prior to her work with the FNIH, she developed and implemented translational research programs as the Science Program Officer for Neuroscience at the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, and led a pre-clinical portfolio of neurodegeneration research programs as a scientist at Amgen Inc. She also held post-doctoral fellowships at the neuroscience-based biotechnology company Elan Inc., the laboratory of Neurogenetics at NIH, and the laboratory of Cell Biology at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL. Dr. Canet-Avilés received her Ph.D. from Leeds University, UK and her Bachelor's degree in Chemistry from the Universitat de Barcelona (Catalonia), Spain.

"We are thrilled to have Rosa join AFTD," said Susan L-J Dickinson, AFTD's Chief Executive Officer. "Her expertise in the neuroscience translational space, as well as her strength in developing and leading multi-stakeholder initiatives across biopharma and government and with nonprofit partners, is a great addition to our existing expertise in FTD research. Her contributions will be key as we address the next phase of our organization's Strategic Plan and seek effective treatments for this disease."

Families are eager to do their part in research; there is increasing investment from biotech/pharma, and national attention to Alzheimer's and related dementias is growing. With the arrival of Dr. Canet-Avilés, AFTD is now better positioned to build on these opportunities than ever before.

About AFTD: Online at www.theaftd.org, AFTD is the leading nonprofit dedicated to improving the lives of those affected by FTD. We envision a world with compassionate care, effective support, and a future free of FTD. In recent years, we have established and strengthened critical partnerships with the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation, the Diagnostics Accelerator initiative, and Target ALS, to foster collaborative work to address FTD and benefit others facing dementia, ALS, and any form of neurodegenerative disease.

SOURCE The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration