Dr. Ladislav Volicer is currently the Courtesy Full Professor at the School of Aging Studies, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA, Visiting Professor at the 3rd Medical Faculty, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic and Adjunct Professor at the University of Western Sydney. In 1979, he moved his laboratory to the E.N.Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital in Bedford, MA and got involved in research and care for individuals with dementia. As a medical director, he established one of the first Dementia Special Care Units and introduced the concept of structured palliative care for patients with advanced dementia. Goals of care on this unit were quality of life, dignity and comfort instead of prolongation of life at all costs. Dr. Volicer investigated various aspects of dementia care, including behavioural symptoms, medical complications and eating difficulties. He is recognized as an international expert on advanced dementia care. Dr. Ann C. Hurley is currently Senior Nurse Scientist, Brigham and Women s Hospital Center for Nursing Excellence, Boston MA, USA. She has held clinical, educational, administrative, and research positions at several Academic Medical Centers in the Boston, Massachusetts area, USA. Concurrent with those positions, she was adjunct faculty in nursing programs at Boston University, Boston College, and Northeastern University, USA. Dr. Hurley was the Associate Director of the Geriatric Research Education Clinical Center at the Edith Nurse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital in Bedford, MA and Director of the Education and Information Transfer Core of the Boston University Alzheimer s Disease Center. She has worked with Dr. Volicer for over 20 years; collaborating in a program of interdisciplinary research targeted to improve care for persons with advanced dementia and disseminating new knowledge in peer-reviewed journals, chapters and books.