Katy Abbott, PhD, MGS, is executive director of the Scripps Gerontology Center and Professor of Gerontology at Miami University in Oxford, OH. Her research and teaching focus on preference-based, person-centered care for older adults receiving long-term services and supports. She co-founded Preference Based Living, a collaborative organization dedicated to advancing understanding of individual preferences through the development and use of the Preferences for Everyday Living Inventory, a valid and reliable assessment tool. Dr. Abbott leads research initiatives, including training in Emotion-Focused Communication, which equips care partners with practical strategies to enhance connection and reduce distress among individuals living with dementia, and the Individualized Positive Psychosocial Interaction (IPPI) program, which advances person-centered improvements in care delivery. Her work bridges research and practice, ensuring that interventions are both rigorous and feasible in real-world settings. She is committed to mentoring emerging scholars and collaborating across disciplines to advance scalable, non-pharmacological interventions in dementia care.