Mark Dant is the current Chairman of the Board of the Washington DC based EveryLife Foundation for Rare Diseases, a science-based advocacy organization dedicated to accelerating biotech innovations for rare disease treatments through science-driven public policy. Mark is also the founder and Volunteer Executive Director of the Ryan Foundation and former President and CEO of the National MPS Society. For the past 25+ years, Mark and the Ryan Foundation have partnered with numerous research scientists and universities to help innovative projects move toward treatment in lysosomal storage disease. Mark and his family have been key advocates speaking to the FDA and in 2009 successfully championed the US House of Representatives to pass the Ryan Dant Health Care Opportunity Act, a bill designed to help those living on Medicaid assistance become gainfully employed. The Dant’s journey has been documented on CBS 60 Minutes, CNN, Biography Magazine, Readers Digest in 13 languages around the world, Golf Digest, the LA Times and numerous newspapers and news outlets across the US. Mark retired from police work in 2016 as Assistant Chief of Police with the Carrollton Texas Police Department after serving 32 years as a Patrol Officer, Detective, and Commander leading multiple divisions and Bureaus to include Patrol, Criminal Investigations, Intel, and SWAT. Mark spends his time now volunteering for the EveryLife Foundation, the Ryan Foundation, and numerous other rare disease organizations to help empower the patient advocate through the understanding that all of us have the power to turn action to hope and hope to reality.