William H. Thies, Ph.D., is vice president for medical and scientific relations at the Alzheimer’s Association, where he oversees the world’s largest private, nonprofit Alzheimer’s disease research grants program. Under his direction, the organization’s annual grant budget has doubled, and the program has designated special focus areas targeting the relationship between cardiovascular risk factors and Alzheimer’s disease, caregiving and care systems, and research involving diverse populations. He played a key role in launching Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, and in establishing the Research Roundtable, a consortium of senior scientists from industry, academia and government who convene regularly to explore common barriers to drug discovery. In previous work at the American Heart Association (AHA) from 1988-1998, Dr. Thies formed a new stroke division that recently became the American Stroke Association. He also built the Emergency Cardiac Care Program, a continuing medical education program that trains over 3 million professionals annually. He has worked with the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) to form the Brain Attack Coalition. Prior to joining the AHA, he held faculty positions at Indiana University in Bloomington and the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Thies earned a B.A. in biology from Lake Forest College, Lake Forest, Ill., and a Ph.D. in pharmacology from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.