6th International Conference on Frontotemporal Dementias

Venue: Beurs-WTC Congress Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Date: September 3 - 5, 2008

Dear colleagues,

It is a great honour to invite you to attend the 6th International Conference on Frontotemporal Dementia taking place in Rotterdam from September 3 – 5, 2008. The tradition of this conference started 20 years ago in Lund, Sweden, where Arne Brun and Lars Gustafson organized the first meeting. The identification of MAPT gene mutations 10 years ago brought experts from other disciplines, like genetics and biologists, to the field of FTD.

After three meetings in Lund, the 4th Conference was held in Philadelphia and was inspired by the participation of the caregivers organization Association of Frontotemporal Dementias. The discovery of mutations in the Progranulin gene and the identification of the TDP-43 protein in FTD contributed to what became a very exciting 5th meeting in San Francisco in 2006.

The scientific program of the coming 6th conference promises to be very interesting for doctors and basic scientists working in the field of early onset dementia, parkinsonism and motor neuron disease. Internationally-renowned experts in the field will offer a complete update of recent clinical and pathological studies, and will present the latest results from genetic studies. Separate sessions will target related disorders such as motor neuron disease, progressive supranuclear palsy and corticobasal degeneration. Researchers developing biomarkers for research and clinical practice will share their latest knowledge in the field.

The sessions including basic scientists working on Tau, TDP-43 and Progranulin proteins will present state-of-theart knowledge in this fast moving field. These sessions will certainly encourage the development of new scientific ideas and initiatives. Special attention will be paid to the first steps in therapeutic interventions coming from clinical practice and the lab in a separate session.

The scientific committee would particularly like to encourage young scientists to present their data and submit abstracts of their work. On each day, there will a number of open slots for presentation of exciting new data. The sessions on the Caregivers Day have been designed in collaboration with lay organizations from different countries and will give a good overview of the scientific achievements over recent years. To facilitate communication between experts and caregivers, parallel sessions on specific subjects (legal and financial aspects, guidelines, practical issues in nursing home stage) will be held in smaller groups.

FTD research has a longstanding tradition in the Netherlands, starting from the first observations from Schenk and Van Mansvelt until the more recent work in MAPT mutations. We feel very honoured to welcome you to this conference and sharing with you the latest developments in basic and clinical research.