April 28, 2025 • 29 mins
Phyllis Farrell takes us on an extraordinary journey through her pioneering career in Alzheimer's research and her passionate commitment to transforming how we approach brain health. From her unexpected path starting with an economics degree to eventually leading late-stage Alzheimer's drug development teams at Eli Lilly, Farrell demonstrates how diverse perspectives strengthen our approach to healthcare's most challenging problems.
What makes this conversation truly special is Farrell's ability to balance sobering reality with genuine optimism. She doesn't shy away from the devastating impacts of Alzheimer's—both on patients and the predominantly female caregivers who support them—yet her message is fundamentally hopeful. The groundbreaking revelation that over 40% of dementias are preventable through lifestyle changes shifts our understanding from inevitability to opportunity.
Most powerfully, Farrell dismantles the harmful misconception that cognitive decline is simply part of normal aging. Instead, she offers practical, science-backed strategies anyone can implement today: Mediterranean diet, regular exercise, quality sleep, blood pressure management, limited alcohol, social engagement, and cognitive stimulation. Her introduction of NeuroQuest, an innovative brain health assessment tool, provides a personalized approach to brain health that resonated deeply with HOSA's Future Health Professionals.
Whether you're a healthcare professional, student, or simply someone concerned about brain health for yourself or loved ones, this episode delivers actionable insights alongside a profound message: we can change the trajectory of Alzheimer's disease if we start caring for our brains decades before symptoms appear. As Farrell reminds us, the next generation of healthcare professionals has "the creativity, the grit, and the values" to revolutionize how we approach this challenge—and the time to start is now, not when something goes wrong.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome to the HOSA Future Health Professionals the
Future of Health podcast.
Today I am honored to have withus Phyllis Farrell, a member of
the HOSA 100 InternationalAdvisory Council.
Phyllis, welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Hi, george, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Phyllis, you know you've contributed so much to
the HOSA 100, and we're soexcited to have you on the
Future of Health podcast For ourglobal audience of future
health professionals.
Could you kindly share yourjourney, including how you
entered the healthcare sectorand became ultimately involved
(00:52):
with the HOSA 100?
Speaker 2 (00:55):
I'd be happy to.
George, it's a little bit of along story because I'm quite a
bit older than the most of yourHOSA members, but it is kind of
a fun story, I think, for peoplethat want to get into the
health sector.
I actually had an undergraddegree in economics from a
liberal arts school by the nameof DePaul University in Indiana
(01:19):
and I'm a big, big believer inthe liberal arts education
because it really teaches youhow to do critical thinking.
And because of that experiencewith a lot of breadth, I began
working for Eli Lilly andCompany, a major pharmaceutical
firm, right after graduation andI actually started in the
business, in finance.
(01:39):
But I realized very quicklythat I wanted to get closer to
patient care and so I movedthrough the organization and
worked on the commercial side ofthe business so marketing,
selling, strategy, businessdevelopment and I really got a
feel for what it meant to workin life sciences.
(01:59):
I don't think I could have donethat if I hadn't had that
liberal arts education because Ididn't have a deep science
background.
So I went back to school and Igot a master's degree in
business, an MBA, from Stanford.
I took a two year sabbatical.
It was wonderful to go to theWest Coast.
But then I came back andcontinued to work for Eli Lilly
(02:21):
and Company and continued towork for Eli Lilly and Company
and about halfway through mycareer, so after about 15 years
I actually moved over into themedical part of the organization
where I took responsibility forleading the late stage
Alzheimer's disease drugdevelopment and diagnostic
development teams.
(02:42):
So what that means is I all of asudden had doctors reporting to
me and regulatory scientistsvery early stage research
scientists, as well as the teamthat was getting ready to get
drugs to market and had a blastOnce again, lots of breadth and
(03:03):
so leaning on that liberal artsschooling.
But by then I had a master'sdegree and I actually decided to
go back and get a doctoraldegree.
So I finally got my sciencedegree when I was 50 years old
and I got a doctorate in publichealth and that was when I
really pivoted in my careerhealth.
(03:25):
And that was when I reallypivoted in my career.
I took early retirement fromLilly and I became an
independent consultant inAlzheimer's disease.
I got very involved in globalhealth with the World Economic
Forum and started a new globalhealth initiative.
So I've really had a lot ofactivity over three decades of
career and a lot of breath, butit's been a lot of fun and I
(03:49):
highly highly recommend thehealth sciences, life sciences
and health sector to anyonewho's looking for a place where
they can really do good workwhile also making a nice income.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
You know that's such an incredible journey, Phyllis,
and it's so, you know, obviousthat you've made such an
incredible impact.
And so, as we look atAlzheimer's, the disease itself
is a growing global challenge.
How do you describe its scopeand the impact it's having on so
(04:30):
many millions of individuals inyour own words?
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Well, honestly, it's a product of our success.
It's because of the successthat we've had in life science,
innovation and medical practiceclinical care that people are
actually living longer, andthey're living longer around the
world.
So what this means, though, isthat people that live when they
(04:54):
live longer.
We don't want to just livelonger, we want to live
healthier and happier, and soyou see this aging population
marching its way across theworld, starting in Japan, which
is a super aging society, and,honestly, it's going to
transform not just our healthsectors, but also our finance
(05:17):
sectors and our social securitysectors, because, all of a
sudden, people are living longer.
That means there's more yearsnot working than there are
working, or we need to find away to transform the way we work
so that we can stay in theworking community longer.
So it's a product of oursuccess.
(05:40):
The problem is that the numberone risk for Alzheimer's disease
is getting older.
Our brains don't clear out theamyloid plaque like they used to
, and, as that amyloid builds upin first monomers and then
oligomers, which are thesereally sticky particles that
ultimately create amyloidplaques in the brain, our body
(06:04):
just doesn't do a good job asthe janitor of cleaning it out.
So it has a huge impact, notjust our government sectors we
spend billions and billions ofdollars in Medicare every year
taking care of people withAlzheimer's disease and their
comorbidities but we also haveit impacting our families,
(06:27):
because even in the UnitedStates of America the standard
of care for someone withAlzheimer's disease is an unpaid
family caregiver.
I lived that in my own personalexperience with my father, and
you know now it's not just adultchildren that are caring for
their parents, grandchildren are.
We have kids that are at thecollege age that are caring for
their parents, grandchildren are.
We have kids that are at thecollege age that are having to
(06:48):
take on caregiving roles at atime when they really should be
focusing on themselves.
So it's a devastating impact.
But I also think we're on thecusp of some just amazing
scientific breakthroughs, bothin terms of therapeutics,
diagnostics and even somesecondary prevention and risk
reduction strategies.
(07:09):
So it also makes me very, veryhopeful for where we are.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Helpful is such an incredible word to hear from you
, Phyllis, based on everythingthat you're seeing, and so it's
health effects.
What are the economic andsocial consequences of this
Alzheimer's epidemic?
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Well, as I mentioned, it turns our social security
system upside down,no-transcript, our identities,
(08:08):
and so you think about where youare used to having your mom
make Thanksgiving dinner, forexample, or have your father
help you with your taxes andthese are things that are no
longer available to you and, infact, the role reversal is that
you're having to help your momor your dad, grandmother,
(08:29):
grandfather, aunt, uncle throughsome really challenging times
for them and you're losing apiece of them as they lose a
piece of their identity as well.
Now I would be remiss if thisgroup I didn't talk to about
CNAs, certified NursingAssistants.
These folks are angels on earth.
(08:51):
These are the individuals thatcome into our home.
They work in hospitals, theymake sure that people can stay
at home longer.
These individuals are usuallywomen, and guess who's usually a
caregiver for their aunt oruncle or grandmother or mother?
It's usually a woman.
Four to one times more likelyare our caregivers, whether they
(09:15):
be paid or unpaid, women.
So the other thing that I worryabout, george and I worry about
it a lot is that we've madethis fantastic progress on
diversity in the workforce andit's going to start to erode as
women stay home or takedifferent types of careers in
order to care for their lovedones the way they want to care
(09:38):
for them, with honor, but itmeans that they can't work in a
traditional way.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
It's really incredible to hear from your
perspective, phyllis, the impact, both personally and
professionally, that you'veencountered and that you've
experienced, and how you'redriving that into your work
today.
And so, as we look at some ofthe younger members of HOSA that
may not yet recognize theimportance of Alzheimer's
(10:07):
prevention, what would you sayto them and how can they start
taking steps to reduce theirrisk later in life?
Now?
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Oh, I wish I'd known so much of this long ago.
I have kids that are recentcollege graduates heading into
college and we talk about brainhealth a lot because they've
seen this disease in our ownfamily, and there are things
that we can and should be doingfor our brains right now.
Now, the good news is most ofour HOSA members have probably
(10:42):
had conversations about mentalhealth and how do we take care
of our mental health, and stressand anxiety and depression, but
also really impacted throughthe years of COVID.
We know that it impacted ourhigh schoolers and middle
schoolers and college aidstudents pretty significantly.
So most of them have probablybeen thinking about mental
(11:03):
health or mental resilience, butthey probably haven't thought
about cognition, because memoryis thought of as something that
happens to people when they'reolder.
But what we know now is we knowthat this amyloid plaque in the
brain actually starts 10 to 20years before symptoms.
We also know that there arethings that we can be doing.
(11:26):
Today.
I love talking to women intheir 30s and 40s and saying
take care of your brain, becausewe want to be able to take care
of the people that we love.
But it's even important forsomeone headed into college to
be thinking about these things,and they're the same kinds of
things we want to do for ouroverall health as well.
So, mediterranean diet, a lot ofdata on plant-based diets and
(11:52):
eating less red meat theMediterranean diet, of course,
that's high in fish and omega-3s.
Getting rid of seed oils,things like that.
No preservatives wherever youcan Get rid of the sugary
cereals.
Get rid of fried foods andfoods that have preservatives.
I tell my kids shop theperimeter of the grocery store,
(12:14):
not up and down the aisles, sodiet's a big piece of it.
The grocery store, not up anddown the aisles, so diet's a big
piece of it.
The second thing is exercise,regular exercise.
That doesn't have to bemarathon training, but it should
be something that gets yourheart rate up for at least 30
minutes every day.
Quit smoking.
I mean, the good news is itseems like smoking is going out
(12:37):
of fashion.
But smoking and vaping get ridof it.
There's just nothing good thatcomes from that.
And alcohol Alcohol is aneurotoxin.
So drinking alcohol inmoderation or, if possible, not
at all.
There's these wonderfulmocktails now and other things
that you can do that are just asfun and exciting if you're
(12:58):
going out for a night withfriends, things like managing
your blood pressure very, verytightly, of course, that helps
with cardiovascular disease.
And then, of course, socialengagement.
So actually go see your friends.
Don't just text them, don'tjust game with them.
Go see them and put phones away.
You know, we used to have athing with my friends where we
(13:21):
put all of our phones in thecenter of the table and whoever
grabbed their phone first had topay the bill.
So it really was a goodmotivator to make sure we really
just paid attention to eachother.
Cognitive exercise that could bethrough your schooling or it
could be through work or both.
And then the one that I have tosay over and over and over
again, and it's probably evenmore important for our college
(13:42):
age students, is sleep.
You need to be getting seven toeight hours of quality sleep
every night.
So if you don't have a trackeron your Apple phone or a Fitbit
or an Oura ring, get one.
Track your sleep.
You'd be amazed at how quicklyyou can see the things that you
do during the day and how theyimpact your sleep.
(14:04):
Sleep is the only time that thejanitor comes through in your
brain, which is basically themicroglia chomping up amyloid in
your brain, and so I alwaysthink of like a little Pac-Man
running through my brain and Iknow that I need to get that
quality sleep.
Those things are going to helpall of your body systems, right,
not just your brain.
(14:24):
Diabetes and cardiovasculardisease reduces cancer risk, and
we know that it also helps withmental health.
So that's my list.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
That's my list.
You know, phyllis, what anincredible, incredible lesson
for all of us.
I mean, you took us on thisjourney of what you should do
and what you can do and, mostimportantly, what you should be
thinking about to mitigate whatis the progression towards
(14:58):
Alzheimer's.
And so, understanding that andthen fully understanding what
the experience for thecaretakers, for the individuals
that suffer with this diseasethe collective, what that is
helps you to really reframe andunderstand what you're saying,
(15:20):
the importance of what you'resaying, and so we're grateful to
hear from you based on yourexperience, again, personal and
professional, regardingAlzheimer's, and so thank you
for that.
What is NeuroQuest, what areits benefits and how can people
(15:41):
learn more about it?
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Yeah.
So NeuroQuest or you can go towwwmyneurotypecom is a really
fun new way to start thinkingabout your brain health, and the
most exciting part of it was weactually launched it at the
2024 HOSA InternationalLeadership Conference in Texas,
(16:07):
and it was so much fun to watchyoung people people much younger
than me getting in, taking abrain health quiz, talking about
your own habits and things thatare important to you and then
getting results back withguidance that explains to you.
Here's some things that you canbe doing for your own brain
(16:28):
health, but telling you in a waythat's meaningful for you.
So what are the things that areimportant to you?
Are you a neuro champion?
Are you a neuro creative?
Are you a neuro optimist, whichis what I am?
I think in order to be anAlzheimer's researcher, you have
to be an optimist, but it givesyou not just the information
(16:50):
around brain health, which couldbe really dull if you just read
it in a medical journal, but itgives you the information in a
way that is exciting and verytailored to what's important to
you, and I just had a great timewatching young people take the
quiz themselves but then sendthe links to their moms and
(17:11):
their grandparents and theiraunts and uncles and say take
this, I mean, imagine if theyoung people in our HOSA
community really startedmovements on brain health in
their own families, in their owncommunities.
I've often said, george, thatevery time I get skeptical and
jaded I look at this nextgeneration and I realize things
(17:33):
are going to be okay.
And I certainly felt thatcoming out of the HOSA ILC
meeting last year because I justlooked at that group and I said
are going to be okay.
And I certainly felt thatcoming out of the HOSA ILC
meeting last year because I justlooked at that group and I said
if these are our futurehealthcare leaders, everything's
going to be okay and I'd lovefor them to take on this brain
health movement in their owncommunities.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
I'm so happy.
I'm so happy to hear that,because I witnessed your
reaction to, you know, havingthousands, over 10,000 students
in one room at one time, allpart of the hosts of future
health professionals pipeline,of which there are an additional
290,000 plus across the world,and you really are and become
(18:16):
inspired and really trulyhopeful for the future, and so I
sure did.
That's right.
We all did and I still do, evenafter all these years of
attending this InternationalLeadership Conference.
It's always a renewal of yourfaith in the future and so, as
we said, at the 2024 HOSAInternational Leadership
(18:39):
Conference, you assisted withSeth and Lauren Rogan's film
being shown multiple times tothousands of students, called
Taking Care.
This film was, to say the least, profound.
It documented Lauren Rogan'smother's battle with Alzheimer's
(19:04):
.
It was incredibly heroic of theRogans to lift the curtain to
show what they went through.
All of it, all of it.
What was that experience likeand how did the HOSA Future
Health Professionals audiencerespond?
Speaker 2 (19:26):
Well, I had gotten to see the film in one of the
early premieres and I'm reallyglad I had seen it separately
because, having lived a similarexperience in my own family, I
think it would have been alittle emotional for me to see
it the first time there.
But that's what I saw, georgeis.
I saw students connecting withwhat was going on this film,
(19:52):
realizing that this is what hadhappened in their own families.
You know they'd seen it eitherthrough the lens of their
parents or friends.
Many of them were tearful,thinking about the time that
they had missed with theirgrandparents.
And my boys so now 23 and 18,they'll tell you they didn't get
(20:16):
to spend the kind of time withtheir grandfathers the way they
wanted to.
Their grandfathers weren't attheir basketball games in high
school.
They weren't at their tennismatches or baseball games like
they would want a grandparent tobe able to do.
And, as a result, the boys havesaid said we want to do this
(20:36):
differently.
And that's what we saw at HOSA,which I loved.
We saw these young folksconnecting with this film,
taking not just the experiencebut putting it together with the
science and the things thatthey're excited about, about
being future health care workers, and so many of them walked out
and said you know, I wasn'tsure exactly what I wanted to do
(20:59):
in my life, but now I'm sure Iwant to do something to battle
Alzheimer's or to help care forolder people.
And you think about it?
The world of careers in health.
Healthcare is rich and robust,but with this advent of
neuroscience and brain healthand neurodegeneration and aging,
(21:21):
it's just opening up massiveamounts of opportunity in the
healthcare field, and so I lovedwatching students take
something that was very personal, connecting with it and then
turning it into something thatthey felt like they could take
action against in their careers.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
And so, phyllis, your career spans, as we've
discussed, both the public andthe private sectors, including
advisory roles with various NGOs, et cetera, et cetera, et
cetera, so much.
How do these criticalpartnerships contribute to the
(22:02):
fight against Alzheimer's andwhy, phyllis, are they so
absolutely essential?
Speaker 2 (22:12):
Well, I think in any of the world's wicked problems
and I would put Alzheimer's atthe top of the list as one of
the most wicked no one sectorcan solve it themselves.
And I think the good news aboutthe Alzheimer's field is we've
known this for a while, so we'veactually seen quite a lot of
public-private collaboration.
(22:32):
But you know you need thehealthcare sector.
So think like the medicalfields, you need the life
science sectors, that's, yourindustry players and
pharmaceuticals and diagnosticsdevelopment.
You need government.
Medicare is the primary payerfor everyone over the age of 65.
So, in the case of the UnitedStates of America, kind of a
(22:55):
single payer system when itcomes to Alzheimer's disease.
But you also need philanthropy,and that could also be family
foundations, and so when youstart thinking about it,
everybody has a role to play andthe good news is we're a pretty
collaborative field.
We've had some experience inpublic-private partnerships.
I'd like to see more.
I'd like to see more fundingcome into this space.
(23:17):
We're actually seeingentrepreneurs coming in, seeing
business opportunities allacross the spectrum of the
disease, both in terms ofconsumer as well as in terms of
medical care and enablingtechnologies and research, and
so I really think if this is aplace that you want to be.
There's a place for you, andthat's an exciting thing to be
(23:42):
able to say to a young person oreven a 50-year-old person that
there's lots of opportunity tomake an impact and to tailor
that in a way that it reallyworks for you, for your skill
sets and for things that areimportant for you in terms of
which sector you want to work in.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
And so, with all of these advancements in research
and technology, what promisingdevelopments, phyllis, do you
see in the fight againstAlzheimer's, and how can
organizations like the futurehealth professionals, hosa,
contribute to these efforts?
Speaker 2 (24:19):
You know, george, it's such a great question.
One of the biggest problemswith Alzheimer's disease is we
have a mental model of a verylate stage of the disease.
So if you say Alzheimer'sdisease to friends and family,
they often think of a very, veryold woman in the corner of a
nursing home in a rocking chair.
Well, that's like stage fourcancer, and nobody wants to
(24:43):
diagnose cancer at stage four.
Everybody wants to diagnose itat stage one or stage zero even.
And so the problem withAlzheimer's disease is everybody
has this mental model that isvery late in the disease, it's
highly stigmatized and it's very, very scary.
Well, what we know now, as Imentioned, is that this disease
(25:05):
starts very early.
Right, the plaque starts tobuild 10 to 20 years before
symptoms.
But I've got even better newsfor you.
But I've got even better newsfor you, and that is that the
Lancet just published last yearthat over 40% of dementias are
preventable with lifestylechange.
(25:26):
The University of Pennsylvaniaalso just released a study that
said 70% of cases of mildcognitive impairment can be
stabilized with lifestyleinterventions.
So now what do we really have todo?
We have to shift this mindsetof I only worry about my brain
when something goes wrong to.
I should be thinking about mybrain all the time, just like I
(25:47):
do my heart health.
And if I can do early detectionmeaning I can catch cognitive
symptoms as soon as the subtlestsigns appear and then, when
they happen, I can do accuratediagnosis Like now, we can
actually tell you is it reallyAlzheimer's disease, or is it
vascular dementia, or is itfrontal temporal dementia, or is
(26:10):
it geriatric depression, or isit a B12 deficiency these are
all things we can measure now.
So if we can start talking aboutour brain health at home, make
it something that we just talkabout, bring it out of the
closet, bring it into thekitchen and start talking about
what we can do, let's catch thisdisease as early as possible.
(26:33):
So early detection and accuratediagnosis If we do that, we'll
reduce the stigma and we willultimately not just have better
outcomes with the disease butprobably have a lot less of the
disease, and that would be goodfor everyone, not just ourselves
, but our societies as a whole.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Well, phyllis, as we begin to close this interview,
we could really talk about allof your perspectives, not for
hours, but for days or months oryears, because you've lived it,
you've seen it, you'vecontributed to the solutions
that are coming about.
And so, what misconceptions,what are those critical
(27:12):
misconceptions about Alzheimer'sthat you believe need to be
addressed, and how can greaterawareness help change the way
society approaches this disease?
Speaker 2 (27:24):
I mean the number one is Alzheimer's is not normal
aging.
It's not.
There is no cognitive decline.
That's part of normal aging.
Our brains can stay as strongas the rest of our bodies can
stay.
So we have to, as clinicians,as patients, as loved ones, we
(27:46):
have to take that normal agingout of our vernacular and we
have to start saying that brainhealth is something we want to
pay attention to, and we want topay attention to it very early,
consistently and so that, if Icould change one thing, that's
what it would be is that we stopwaiting to think about our
(28:08):
brain health until somethinggoes wrong and we think about it
like everything else we do withour health and remind people.
If someone says, oh, it's justAlzheimer's disease, it's normal
aging.
No, it's not.
Let's tackle this battle justlike we've tackled every other
disease that's faced our society.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
Phyllis Farrell.
Hosa 100 International AdvisoryCouncil.
To close, what is your key callto action for the future health
professionals?
Speaker 2 (28:44):
I would just say that we're counting on you.
As I mentioned, every singletime I get skeptical and jaded
about this world.
I meet one of these HOSAmembers and I think everything's
going to be okay, but that'sbecause you guys have the
creativity and the grit and thevalues and the breadth of
(29:05):
experiences that we didn't havegrowing up, and so we're
counting on you.
Create a movement, talk aboutbrain health and mental health
with your friends and family andyour parents and your
grandparents, and make change,because you can, and I'm so
thankful for you all.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
And that's the last word Make change because you can
.
Phyllis Farrell, member of theHOSA 100 International Advisory
Council.
On behalf of the future healthprofessionals HOSA, we thank you
.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Thank you, George.
Welcome to the HOSA Future Health Professionals the
Future of Health podcast.
Today I am honored to have withus Phyllis Farrell, a member of
the HOSA 100 InternationalAdvisory Council.
Phyllis, welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Hi, george, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Phyllis, you know you've contributed so much to
the HOSA 100, and we're soexcited to have you on the
Future of Health podcast For ourglobal audience of future
health professionals.
Could you kindly share yourjourney, including how you
entered the healthcare sectorand became ultimately involved
(00:52):
with the HOSA 100?
Speaker 2 (00:55):
I'd be happy to.
George, it's a little bit of along story because I'm quite a
bit older than the most of yourHOSA members, but it is kind of
a fun story, I think, for peoplethat want to get into the
health sector.
I actually had an undergraddegree in economics from a
liberal arts school by the nameof DePaul University in Indiana
(01:19):
and I'm a big, big believer inthe liberal arts education
because it really teaches youhow to do critical thinking.
And because of that experiencewith a lot of breadth, I began
working for Eli Lilly andCompany, a major pharmaceutical
firm, right after graduation andI actually started in the
business, in finance.
(01:39):
But I realized very quicklythat I wanted to get closer to
patient care and so I movedthrough the organization and
worked on the commercial side ofthe business so marketing,
selling, strategy, businessdevelopment and I really got a
feel for what it meant to workin life sciences.
(01:59):
I don't think I could have donethat if I hadn't had that
liberal arts education because Ididn't have a deep science
background.
So I went back to school and Igot a master's degree in
business, an MBA, from Stanford.
I took a two year sabbatical.
It was wonderful to go to theWest Coast.
But then I came back andcontinued to work for Eli Lilly
(02:21):
and Company and continued towork for Eli Lilly and Company
and about halfway through mycareer, so after about 15 years
I actually moved over into themedical part of the organization
where I took responsibility forleading the late stage
Alzheimer's disease drugdevelopment and diagnostic
development teams.
(02:42):
So what that means is I all of asudden had doctors reporting to
me and regulatory scientistsvery early stage research
scientists, as well as the teamthat was getting ready to get
drugs to market and had a blastOnce again, lots of breadth and
(03:03):
so leaning on that liberal artsschooling.
But by then I had a master'sdegree and I actually decided to
go back and get a doctoraldegree.
So I finally got my sciencedegree when I was 50 years old
and I got a doctorate in publichealth and that was when I
really pivoted in my careerhealth.
(03:25):
And that was when I reallypivoted in my career.
I took early retirement fromLilly and I became an
independent consultant inAlzheimer's disease.
I got very involved in globalhealth with the World Economic
Forum and started a new globalhealth initiative.
So I've really had a lot ofactivity over three decades of
career and a lot of breath, butit's been a lot of fun and I
(03:49):
highly highly recommend thehealth sciences, life sciences
and health sector to anyonewho's looking for a place where
they can really do good workwhile also making a nice income.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
You know that's such an incredible journey, Phyllis,
and it's so, you know, obviousthat you've made such an
incredible impact.
And so, as we look atAlzheimer's, the disease itself
is a growing global challenge.
How do you describe its scopeand the impact it's having on so
(04:30):
many millions of individuals inyour own words?
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Well, honestly, it's a product of our success.
It's because of the successthat we've had in life science,
innovation and medical practiceclinical care that people are
actually living longer, andthey're living longer around the
world.
So what this means, though, isthat people that live when they
(04:54):
live longer.
We don't want to just livelonger, we want to live
healthier and happier, and soyou see this aging population
marching its way across theworld, starting in Japan, which
is a super aging society, and,honestly, it's going to
transform not just our healthsectors, but also our finance
(05:17):
sectors and our social securitysectors, because, all of a
sudden, people are living longer.
That means there's more yearsnot working than there are
working, or we need to find away to transform the way we work
so that we can stay in theworking community longer.
So it's a product of oursuccess.
(05:40):
The problem is that the numberone risk for Alzheimer's disease
is getting older.
Our brains don't clear out theamyloid plaque like they used to
, and, as that amyloid builds upin first monomers and then
oligomers, which are thesereally sticky particles that
ultimately create amyloidplaques in the brain, our body
(06:04):
just doesn't do a good job asthe janitor of cleaning it out.
So it has a huge impact, notjust our government sectors we
spend billions and billions ofdollars in Medicare every year
taking care of people withAlzheimer's disease and their
comorbidities but we also haveit impacting our families,
(06:27):
because even in the UnitedStates of America the standard
of care for someone withAlzheimer's disease is an unpaid
family caregiver.
I lived that in my own personalexperience with my father, and
you know now it's not just adultchildren that are caring for
their parents, grandchildren are.
We have kids that are at thecollege age that are caring for
their parents, grandchildren are.
We have kids that are at thecollege age that are having to
(06:48):
take on caregiving roles at atime when they really should be
focusing on themselves.
So it's a devastating impact.
But I also think we're on thecusp of some just amazing
scientific breakthroughs, bothin terms of therapeutics,
diagnostics and even somesecondary prevention and risk
reduction strategies.
(07:09):
So it also makes me very, veryhopeful for where we are.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Helpful is such an incredible word to hear from you
, Phyllis, based on everythingthat you're seeing, and so it's
health effects.
What are the economic andsocial consequences of this
Alzheimer's epidemic?
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Well, as I mentioned, it turns our social security
system upside down,no-transcript, our identities,
(08:08):
and so you think about where youare used to having your mom
make Thanksgiving dinner, forexample, or have your father
help you with your taxes andthese are things that are no
longer available to you and, infact, the role reversal is that
you're having to help your momor your dad, grandmother,
(08:29):
grandfather, aunt, uncle throughsome really challenging times
for them and you're losing apiece of them as they lose a
piece of their identity as well.
Now I would be remiss if thisgroup I didn't talk to about
CNAs, certified NursingAssistants.
These folks are angels on earth.
(08:51):
These are the individuals thatcome into our home.
They work in hospitals, theymake sure that people can stay
at home longer.
These individuals are usuallywomen, and guess who's usually a
caregiver for their aunt oruncle or grandmother or mother?
It's usually a woman.
Four to one times more likelyare our caregivers, whether they
(09:15):
be paid or unpaid, women.
So the other thing that I worryabout, george and I worry about
it a lot is that we've madethis fantastic progress on
diversity in the workforce andit's going to start to erode as
women stay home or takedifferent types of careers in
order to care for their lovedones the way they want to care
(09:38):
for them, with honor, but itmeans that they can't work in a
traditional way.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
It's really incredible to hear from your
perspective, phyllis, the impact, both personally and
professionally, that you'veencountered and that you've
experienced, and how you'redriving that into your work
today.
And so, as we look at some ofthe younger members of HOSA that
may not yet recognize theimportance of Alzheimer's
(10:07):
prevention, what would you sayto them and how can they start
taking steps to reduce theirrisk later in life?
Now?
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Oh, I wish I'd known so much of this long ago.
I have kids that are recentcollege graduates heading into
college and we talk about brainhealth a lot because they've
seen this disease in our ownfamily, and there are things
that we can and should be doingfor our brains right now.
Now, the good news is most ofour HOSA members have probably
(10:42):
had conversations about mentalhealth and how do we take care
of our mental health, and stressand anxiety and depression, but
also really impacted throughthe years of COVID.
We know that it impacted ourhigh schoolers and middle
schoolers and college aidstudents pretty significantly.
So most of them have probablybeen thinking about mental
(11:03):
health or mental resilience, butthey probably haven't thought
about cognition, because memoryis thought of as something that
happens to people when they'reolder.
But what we know now is we knowthat this amyloid plaque in the
brain actually starts 10 to 20years before symptoms.
We also know that there arethings that we can be doing.
(11:26):
Today.
I love talking to women intheir 30s and 40s and saying
take care of your brain, becausewe want to be able to take care
of the people that we love.
But it's even important forsomeone headed into college to
be thinking about these things,and they're the same kinds of
things we want to do for ouroverall health as well.
So, mediterranean diet, a lot ofdata on plant-based diets and
(11:52):
eating less red meat theMediterranean diet, of course,
that's high in fish and omega-3s.
Getting rid of seed oils,things like that.
No preservatives wherever youcan Get rid of the sugary
cereals.
Get rid of fried foods andfoods that have preservatives.
I tell my kids shop theperimeter of the grocery store,
(12:14):
not up and down the aisles, sodiet's a big piece of it.
The grocery store, not up anddown the aisles, so diet's a big
piece of it.
The second thing is exercise,regular exercise.
That doesn't have to bemarathon training, but it should
be something that gets yourheart rate up for at least 30
minutes every day.
Quit smoking.
I mean, the good news is itseems like smoking is going out
(12:37):
of fashion.
But smoking and vaping get ridof it.
There's just nothing good thatcomes from that.
And alcohol Alcohol is aneurotoxin.
So drinking alcohol inmoderation or, if possible, not
at all.
There's these wonderfulmocktails now and other things
that you can do that are just asfun and exciting if you're
(12:58):
going out for a night withfriends, things like managing
your blood pressure very, verytightly, of course, that helps
with cardiovascular disease.
And then, of course, socialengagement.
So actually go see your friends.
Don't just text them, don'tjust game with them.
Go see them and put phones away.
You know, we used to have athing with my friends where we
(13:21):
put all of our phones in thecenter of the table and whoever
grabbed their phone first had topay the bill.
So it really was a goodmotivator to make sure we really
just paid attention to eachother.
Cognitive exercise that could bethrough your schooling or it
could be through work or both.
And then the one that I have tosay over and over and over
again, and it's probably evenmore important for our college
(13:42):
age students, is sleep.
You need to be getting seven toeight hours of quality sleep
every night.
So if you don't have a trackeron your Apple phone or a Fitbit
or an Oura ring, get one.
Track your sleep.
You'd be amazed at how quicklyyou can see the things that you
do during the day and how theyimpact your sleep.
(14:04):
Sleep is the only time that thejanitor comes through in your
brain, which is basically themicroglia chomping up amyloid in
your brain, and so I alwaysthink of like a little Pac-Man
running through my brain and Iknow that I need to get that
quality sleep.
Those things are going to helpall of your body systems, right,
not just your brain.
(14:24):
Diabetes and cardiovasculardisease reduces cancer risk, and
we know that it also helps withmental health.
So that's my list.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
That's my list.
You know, phyllis, what anincredible, incredible lesson
for all of us.
I mean, you took us on thisjourney of what you should do
and what you can do and, mostimportantly, what you should be
thinking about to mitigate whatis the progression towards
(14:58):
Alzheimer's.
And so, understanding that andthen fully understanding what
the experience for thecaretakers, for the individuals
that suffer with this diseasethe collective, what that is
helps you to really reframe andunderstand what you're saying,
(15:20):
the importance of what you'resaying, and so we're grateful to
hear from you based on yourexperience, again, personal and
professional, regardingAlzheimer's, and so thank you
for that.
What is NeuroQuest, what areits benefits and how can people
(15:41):
learn more about it?
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Yeah.
So NeuroQuest or you can go towwwmyneurotypecom is a really
fun new way to start thinkingabout your brain health, and the
most exciting part of it was weactually launched it at the
2024 HOSA InternationalLeadership Conference in Texas,
(16:07):
and it was so much fun to watchyoung people people much younger
than me getting in, taking abrain health quiz, talking about
your own habits and things thatare important to you and then
getting results back withguidance that explains to you.
Here's some things that you canbe doing for your own brain
(16:28):
health, but telling you in a waythat's meaningful for you.
So what are the things that areimportant to you?
Are you a neuro champion?
Are you a neuro creative?
Are you a neuro optimist, whichis what I am?
I think in order to be anAlzheimer's researcher, you have
to be an optimist, but it givesyou not just the information
(16:50):
around brain health, which couldbe really dull if you just read
it in a medical journal, but itgives you the information in a
way that is exciting and verytailored to what's important to
you, and I just had a great timewatching young people take the
quiz themselves but then sendthe links to their moms and
(17:11):
their grandparents and theiraunts and uncles and say take
this, I mean, imagine if theyoung people in our HOSA
community really startedmovements on brain health in
their own families, in their owncommunities.
I've often said, george, thatevery time I get skeptical and
jaded I look at this nextgeneration and I realize things
(17:33):
are going to be okay.
And I certainly felt thatcoming out of the HOSA ILC
meeting last year because I justlooked at that group and I said
are going to be okay.
And I certainly felt thatcoming out of the HOSA ILC
meeting last year because I justlooked at that group and I said
if these are our futurehealthcare leaders, everything's
going to be okay and I'd lovefor them to take on this brain
health movement in their owncommunities.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
I'm so happy.
I'm so happy to hear that,because I witnessed your
reaction to, you know, havingthousands, over 10,000 students
in one room at one time, allpart of the hosts of future
health professionals pipeline,of which there are an additional
290,000 plus across the world,and you really are and become
(18:16):
inspired and really trulyhopeful for the future, and so I
sure did.
That's right.
We all did and I still do, evenafter all these years of
attending this InternationalLeadership Conference.
It's always a renewal of yourfaith in the future and so, as
we said, at the 2024 HOSAInternational Leadership
(18:39):
Conference, you assisted withSeth and Lauren Rogan's film
being shown multiple times tothousands of students, called
Taking Care.
This film was, to say the least, profound.
It documented Lauren Rogan'smother's battle with Alzheimer's
(19:04):
.
It was incredibly heroic of theRogans to lift the curtain to
show what they went through.
All of it, all of it.
What was that experience likeand how did the HOSA Future
Health Professionals audiencerespond?
Speaker 2 (19:26):
Well, I had gotten to see the film in one of the
early premieres and I'm reallyglad I had seen it separately
because, having lived a similarexperience in my own family, I
think it would have been alittle emotional for me to see
it the first time there.
But that's what I saw, georgeis.
I saw students connecting withwhat was going on this film,
(19:52):
realizing that this is what hadhappened in their own families.
You know they'd seen it eitherthrough the lens of their
parents or friends.
Many of them were tearful,thinking about the time that
they had missed with theirgrandparents.
And my boys so now 23 and 18,they'll tell you they didn't get
(20:16):
to spend the kind of time withtheir grandfathers the way they
wanted to.
Their grandfathers weren't attheir basketball games in high
school.
They weren't at their tennismatches or baseball games like
they would want a grandparent tobe able to do.
And, as a result, the boys havesaid said we want to do this
(20:36):
differently.
And that's what we saw at HOSA,which I loved.
We saw these young folksconnecting with this film,
taking not just the experiencebut putting it together with the
science and the things thatthey're excited about, about
being future health care workers, and so many of them walked out
and said you know, I wasn'tsure exactly what I wanted to do
(20:59):
in my life, but now I'm sure Iwant to do something to battle
Alzheimer's or to help care forolder people.
And you think about it?
The world of careers in health.
Healthcare is rich and robust,but with this advent of
neuroscience and brain healthand neurodegeneration and aging,
(21:21):
it's just opening up massiveamounts of opportunity in the
healthcare field, and so I lovedwatching students take
something that was very personal, connecting with it and then
turning it into something thatthey felt like they could take
action against in their careers.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
And so, phyllis, your career spans, as we've
discussed, both the public andthe private sectors, including
advisory roles with various NGOs, et cetera, et cetera, et
cetera, so much.
How do these criticalpartnerships contribute to the
(22:02):
fight against Alzheimer's andwhy, phyllis, are they so
absolutely essential?
Speaker 2 (22:12):
Well, I think in any of the world's wicked problems
and I would put Alzheimer's atthe top of the list as one of
the most wicked no one sectorcan solve it themselves.
And I think the good news aboutthe Alzheimer's field is we've
known this for a while, so we'veactually seen quite a lot of
public-private collaboration.
(22:32):
But you know you need thehealthcare sector.
So think like the medicalfields, you need the life
science sectors, that's, yourindustry players and
pharmaceuticals and diagnosticsdevelopment.
You need government.
Medicare is the primary payerfor everyone over the age of 65.
So, in the case of the UnitedStates of America, kind of a
(22:55):
single payer system when itcomes to Alzheimer's disease.
But you also need philanthropy,and that could also be family
foundations, and so when youstart thinking about it,
everybody has a role to play andthe good news is we're a pretty
collaborative field.
We've had some experience inpublic-private partnerships.
I'd like to see more.
I'd like to see more fundingcome into this space.
(23:17):
We're actually seeingentrepreneurs coming in, seeing
business opportunities allacross the spectrum of the
disease, both in terms ofconsumer as well as in terms of
medical care and enablingtechnologies and research, and
so I really think if this is aplace that you want to be.
There's a place for you, andthat's an exciting thing to be
(23:42):
able to say to a young person oreven a 50-year-old person that
there's lots of opportunity tomake an impact and to tailor
that in a way that it reallyworks for you, for your skill
sets and for things that areimportant for you in terms of
which sector you want to work in.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
And so, with all of these advancements in research
and technology, what promisingdevelopments, phyllis, do you
see in the fight againstAlzheimer's, and how can
organizations like the futurehealth professionals, hosa,
contribute to these efforts?
Speaker 2 (24:19):
You know, george, it's such a great question.
One of the biggest problemswith Alzheimer's disease is we
have a mental model of a verylate stage of the disease.
So if you say Alzheimer'sdisease to friends and family,
they often think of a very, veryold woman in the corner of a
nursing home in a rocking chair.
Well, that's like stage fourcancer, and nobody wants to
(24:43):
diagnose cancer at stage four.
Everybody wants to diagnose itat stage one or stage zero even.
And so the problem withAlzheimer's disease is everybody
has this mental model that isvery late in the disease, it's
highly stigmatized and it's very, very scary.
Well, what we know now, as Imentioned, is that this disease
(25:05):
starts very early.
Right, the plaque starts tobuild 10 to 20 years before
symptoms.
But I've got even better newsfor you.
But I've got even better newsfor you, and that is that the
Lancet just published last yearthat over 40% of dementias are
preventable with lifestylechange.
(25:26):
The University of Pennsylvaniaalso just released a study that
said 70% of cases of mildcognitive impairment can be
stabilized with lifestyleinterventions.
So now what do we really have todo?
We have to shift this mindsetof I only worry about my brain
when something goes wrong to.
I should be thinking about mybrain all the time, just like I
(25:47):
do my heart health.
And if I can do early detectionmeaning I can catch cognitive
symptoms as soon as the subtlestsigns appear and then, when
they happen, I can do accuratediagnosis Like now, we can
actually tell you is it reallyAlzheimer's disease, or is it
vascular dementia, or is itfrontal temporal dementia, or is
(26:10):
it geriatric depression, or isit a B12 deficiency these are
all things we can measure now.
So if we can start talking aboutour brain health at home, make
it something that we just talkabout, bring it out of the
closet, bring it into thekitchen and start talking about
what we can do, let's catch thisdisease as early as possible.
(26:33):
So early detection and accuratediagnosis If we do that, we'll
reduce the stigma and we willultimately not just have better
outcomes with the disease butprobably have a lot less of the
disease, and that would be goodfor everyone, not just ourselves
, but our societies as a whole.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Well, phyllis, as we begin to close this interview,
we could really talk about allof your perspectives, not for
hours, but for days or months oryears, because you've lived it,
you've seen it, you'vecontributed to the solutions
that are coming about.
And so, what misconceptions,what are those critical
(27:12):
misconceptions about Alzheimer'sthat you believe need to be
addressed, and how can greaterawareness help change the way
society approaches this disease?
Speaker 2 (27:24):
I mean the number one is Alzheimer's is not normal
aging.
It's not.
There is no cognitive decline.
That's part of normal aging.
Our brains can stay as strongas the rest of our bodies can
stay.
So we have to, as clinicians,as patients, as loved ones, we
(27:46):
have to take that normal agingout of our vernacular and we
have to start saying that brainhealth is something we want to
pay attention to, and we want topay attention to it very early,
consistently and so that, if Icould change one thing, that's
what it would be is that we stopwaiting to think about our
(28:08):
brain health until somethinggoes wrong and we think about it
like everything else we do withour health and remind people.
If someone says, oh, it's justAlzheimer's disease, it's normal
aging.
No, it's not.
Let's tackle this battle justlike we've tackled every other
disease that's faced our society.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
Phyllis Farrell.
Hosa 100 International AdvisoryCouncil.
To close, what is your key callto action for the future health
professionals?
Speaker 2 (28:44):
I would just say that we're counting on you.
As I mentioned, every singletime I get skeptical and jaded
about this world.
I meet one of these HOSAmembers and I think everything's
going to be okay, but that'sbecause you guys have the
creativity and the grit and thevalues and the breadth of
(29:05):
experiences that we didn't havegrowing up, and so we're
counting on you.
Create a movement, talk aboutbrain health and mental health
with your friends and family andyour parents and your
grandparents, and make change,because you can, and I'm so
thankful for you all.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
And that's the last word Make change because you can
.
Phyllis Farrell, member of theHOSA 100 International Advisory
Council.
On behalf of the future healthprofessionals HOSA, we thank you
.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Thank you, George.
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