Liz Matthews is a storyteller and advocate for all things FTD. Her journey began with her dad Dave, who passed away from FTD/ALS in 2016 when Liz was in middle school. Since then, Liz has channeled her dad's love for life and making a difference by diving head-on into FTD awareness, advocacy, and research. She has fundraised over $7,000 for the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration, delivered a presentation on her journey with childhood grief, been featured on podcasts such as Remember Me and Seeing Dementia Differently, ran a blog, and established a 2024 government proclamation for FTD Awareness Week in her hometown as well as a 2026 proclamation for ALS Awareness Month across the state of New Jersey. She moderated a panel on Young Caregivers on the FTD Journey at an AFTD Education Conference, moderated a panel on Understanding the Research Landscape for young adults of parents with younger-onset dementia at a Lorenzo's House Youth Summit, and delivered a poster presentation on The Case for Police Training on younger-onset dementia at an Alzheimer's Disease International conference. She is a certified Clinical Research Ambassador from the University of Pennsylvania FTD Center, member of the NextGen advocacy movement at Lorenzo's House, and founder and host of the National Young Adults Support Group at the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration. Liz has also conducted and presented upon her preclinical research at Lehigh University studying the role of the coracle gene in neurodegeneration as well as at Thomas Jefferson University studying the connection between circadian rhythms and the C9ORF72 FTD/ALS mutation. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Behavioral Neuroscience from Lehigh University and plans to pursue graduate school in the future. Outside of work, Liz loves traveling, learning new languages, and spending time outdoors.
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