Johan Stiens has been participating in the 3-day (Jan. 27–29, 2026) national brainstorming session “‘𝗔𝗴𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲: 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆, 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆’”.

The KVAB – Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts invited Prof. Dr. Richard Reilly, Professor of Neural Engineering at Trinity College Dublin, as ‘thinker’ for the Thinker’s Programme “‘𝗔𝗴𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲: 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆, 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆’”.
This week, Prof. Reilly is engaging with key stakeholders on the most pressing themes.

✨ SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONTEXT AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR INDUSTRY
We have the technology. But older adults need citizen-centric tech, not tech-centric solutions.
We have the data, but our health data are fragmented and remain siloed. And citizens are left out.
How do we enable safe, ethical data exchange—once, with the citizen at the centre—and base funding on societal ROI?

✨ A NEED FOR A SKILLED HEALTH WORKFORCE – TRAINING
Technology is rapidly reshaping care, but skills must keep up.
New curricula, early interdisciplinarity, user-centred engineering, and guidance for informal caregivers are needed.
And how do we build the talent pipeline that ageing urgently needs, making ageing a career students want to choose?

✨ NUTRITION
Healthy ageing isn’t just about nutrients.
It’s about pleasure, affordability, companionship—and the microbiome.
With world-class food tech research in Flanders, how do we turn science into better ageing in place?

✨ PREVENTION
Falls and dementia are not inevitable; they are largely preventable.
Prevention is our most powerful lever, yet it receives only a fraction of health spending.
What policy frameworks can capture its ROI and drive systemic change to protect our health system?

✨ How can technology support physical and brain health?
How do we deal with:
· sarcopenia monitoring
· housing challenges
· boosting cognitive reserve
· shifting from fall detection to fall prevention
· mastery of sensor data
· person-centred dementia care
· etc.