Saum Sutaria, M.D.

I think our biggest challenge in innovation for the next 20 years is the management and care of neurocognitive decline, whether you formally have dementia or not. One thing is true. When you age, people live longer, they inevitably have neurocognitive decline, and they require more care.

I think our biggest challenge in innovation for the next 20 years is the management and care of neurocognitive decline, whether you formally have dementia or not. One thing is true. When you age, people live longer, they inevitably have neurocognitive decline, and they require more care.

The culture in this country, just to address the long-term care expenditure piece pretty directly, I think there are many positive aspects of the culture of family taking care of generations and that being something that's passed from generation to generation. We spend less in institutionalized long-term care because a lot of that work is done by families. Now, that's also a burden.

The culture in this country, just to address the long-term care expenditure piece pretty directly, I think there are many positive aspects of the culture of family taking care of generations and that being something that's passed from generation to generation. We spend less in institutionalized long-term care because a lot of that work is done by families. Now, that's also a burden.

As people live longer and the cost and complexity of their care as they decline gets higher, the cost of providing that care is not just the direct cost. but it's lost wages and productivity in the economy as people, often women, come out of the workforce to take care of the elderly from that perspective. So this problem is not just a healthcare problem.

As people live longer and the cost and complexity of their care as they decline gets higher, the cost of providing that care is not just the direct cost. but it's lost wages and productivity in the economy as people, often women, come out of the workforce to take care of the elderly from that perspective. So this problem is not just a healthcare problem.

It could become a macroeconomic problem based upon feeding the workforce and lost productivity. The second reason I think this is a huge problem, we won't get too technical, simple issue of blood-brain barrier. The traditional pharmaceutical model to care for these diseases may not work once there's onset of disease because of the blood-brain barrier.

It could become a macroeconomic problem based upon feeding the workforce and lost productivity. The second reason I think this is a huge problem, we won't get too technical, simple issue of blood-brain barrier. The traditional pharmaceutical model to care for these diseases may not work once there's onset of disease because of the blood-brain barrier.

And the concept there is that drugs which go into the body don't get through effectively the barrier between the blood and the brain to be able to treat brain diseases. We need new forms of innovation. And this is where I think you will see the prominence of engineering-based solutions rather than drug discovery-based solutions grow materially to help with these diseases.

And the concept there is that drugs which go into the body don't get through effectively the barrier between the blood and the brain to be able to treat brain diseases. We need new forms of innovation. And this is where I think you will see the prominence of engineering-based solutions rather than drug discovery-based solutions grow materially to help with these diseases.

Think about what we do today with stimulation and neurostimulation and Parkinson's. That's a device-based therapy. I think the role of engineers in healthcare has an infinite future and upside for us because of neurological diseases.

Think about what we do today with stimulation and neurostimulation and Parkinson's. That's a device-based therapy. I think the role of engineers in healthcare has an infinite future and upside for us because of neurological diseases.

And we've got to pivot our model, our research, our funding to deal with this issue because we're going to go from 65 million-ish people in Medicare today to 90 million by the mid-2030s. Again, go back to my point before of the number of people pre-Medicare declining that's going to help finance the care for those people.

And we've got to pivot our model, our research, our funding to deal with this issue because we're going to go from 65 million-ish people in Medicare today to 90 million by the mid-2030s. Again, go back to my point before of the number of people pre-Medicare declining that's going to help finance the care for those people.

So we need models for custodial care, meaning where to take care of them and how, that isn't a nursing home or long-term care, which is too expensive. You got to make that job easier in the household.

So we need models for custodial care, meaning where to take care of them and how, that isn't a nursing home or long-term care, which is too expensive. You got to make that job easier in the household.

And we need innovative engineering-based solutions that help improve their cognitive function to make them more self-sufficient, to deal with their dementia for a longer period of time so that they're more self-sufficient and less dependent. And solving that problem, I think, is one of the grand frontiers in medicine over the next 10 to 20 years, given the aging of the population.

And we need innovative engineering-based solutions that help improve their cognitive function to make them more self-sufficient, to deal with their dementia for a longer period of time so that they're more self-sufficient and less dependent. And solving that problem, I think, is one of the grand frontiers in medicine over the next 10 to 20 years, given the aging of the population.

Because remember, we're going to age up through 2032, 2033, but those people are then going to live 10, 15 years. This is a 25-year problem, and I don't know that we've found the solution to that.

Because remember, we're going to age up through 2032, 2033, but those people are then going to live 10, 15 years. This is a 25-year problem, and I don't know that we've found the solution to that.