Dr. Daniel Christian Potts, MD

Daniel C. Potts, M.D., partner at Alabama Neurology and Sleep Medicine and Associate Clinical Professor at the University of Alabama, is a noted neurologist, advocate, writer, lecturer, educator, and champion of dementia patients and caregivers. Dr. Potts served the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) through its Donald M. Palatucci Advocacy Forum (PALF) as the program%u2019s 2011 director, and as advocate, mentor, and faculty member in previous years. In 2008 he was selected as the AAN%u2019s PALF Advocate of the Year. Also through the AAN, he advocates in Congress for those suffering from Alzheimer%u2019s disease and other neurological illnesses. Dr. Potts seeks to improve the quality of life for dementia patients and caregivers primarily through innovative approaches incorporating the expressive arts. Born out of his experience as an Alzheimer' caregiver, and nurtured through the AAN%u2019s Advocacy program Dr. Potts recently formed Cognitive Dynamics, Inc., a foundation dedicated to the above-stated goals. Currently, in poverty-stricken Perry County, AL, this foundation is partnering with the University of Alabama Honors College and Sowing Seeds of Hope Foundation to bring expressive arts therapies to Alzheimer%u2019s patients and to document their life stories. Additionally, Cognitive Dynamics brings Alzheimer%u2019s education to family caregivers living in this area. Plans are underway to expand this program to Appalachia and inner-city Chicago. Additionally, his consulting firm Dementia Dynamics, LLC trains dementia care professionals regarding care giving techniques which improve quality of life and champion human dignity, as these gave great benefit to his father. Dr. Potts has presented his father%u2019s inspiring story of Alzheimer%u2019s art across the country, and has been heard as a speaker at national conferences of the Alzheimer%u2019s Association, Alzheimer%u2019s Foundation of America, National Respite Conference, etc. His advocacy efforts were recently featured in the Together for Care telethon on NBC, hosted by Al Roker. Dr. Potts has authored numerous articles on various topics, including the humanities in medicine, various topics in neurology, care giving, etc. His writings have been featured in Neurology Today, Neurology, the AAN News, MS Focus, Care Advantage Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, among other venues. He has been lead author on three books: Neurology for the Boards (Lippincott%u2019s neurology board review book, currently in its third edition), The Broken Jar (a book of Alzheimer%u2019s art and poetry), and The Turning Time, and is currently writing the chapter on expressive arts therapies in the first-ever textbook of Geriatric Neurology. Also, Dr. Potts serve as an editor and contributor to the AAN%u2019s patient education website. He lives with his wife and their two daughters in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.