At the Intersection of Technology and Aging: A Conversation with Gerontologist Taylor Tuepah
By Mikaela Wang, Articling Student, Goodmans LLP
Taylor Tuepah, Sr. Director of Strategy and Operations, Synapticure
As the senior care industry embraces a wave of innovation, conversations about aging are expanding beyond traditional models. At this year’s SenbridGe West 2025, where design and technology intersect with healthcare and aging, we spotlight leaders who are pushing the boundaries of what senior care can be. One of those voices is Taylor Tuepah’s.
Taylor has built a career at the intersection of technology and healthcare innovation, with a deep commitment to improving care for older adults and individuals with complex needs. Taylor graduated with a Master’s in Gerontology from Simon Fraser University before moving to New York City. She has spent almost a decade leading strategy, operations, and product functions at growth-stage healthcare startups.
Now based in Seattle, Taylor is the Senior Director of Strategy and Operations at Synapticure, where she is focused on expanding and improving their national dementia program. Her work continues to drive meaningful change in the industry.
You’ve carved out a path that may be a little unconventional for someone with a degree in Gerontology. What led you into the world of startups and digital health?
When I was studying Gerontology, people would often ask, “What do you plan to do with that degree?” The honest answer was: I didn’t know exactly. But I knew it was a growing field, one that would attract more investment and attention over time, and I was excited to be part of it.
During my program, I became especially interested in how technology could help people age well, which led me toward the startup space. When I graduated in 2016, there were very few eldercare startups, but by a stroke of luck, I landed a role at one of them in New York City.
Since then, I’ve worked at five different startups and held at least twice as many roles. It’s a fast-moving industry, and a great fit if you love dynamic problem-solving and want each day to feel different from the last.
I’m encouraged to see growing investment in what’s now called “silver tech.” Venture capital firms and experienced healthcare operators are recognizing the major opportunity to reimagine care for older adults – clinical and beyond, and I think we’ll all benefit from the innovation that comes out of that momentum.
Have you seen any major innovations in this space during your career so far?
When the pandemic hit, I was working at a company that serves people with highly complex needs, individuals who were especially vulnerable to COVID. At the time, all of our care was delivered in person. Almost overnight, we had to stand up telehealth and paramedicine programs to continue supporting our members.
This brought forth a tension between pace of progress and patient safety, which I often see in this space. We had no choice but to innovate quickly, with limited resources, and we had to do so in a way that maintained the highest standards of care. And that pressure isn’t unique to COVID, it shows up whenever you’re trying to build something new in healthcare.
One of the best practices we relied on was including clinicians from the very beginning. Whether we were piloting a new program or redesigning a workflow, there was always a clinician at the table. That collaboration helped us move quickly without compromising care. I have been lucky to work with so many creative and collaborative clinicians in my career who have been incredible partners in testing new models and innovating in healthcare.
Looking ahead, what would your ideal vision for senior care look like – and how do you see technology supporting that future?
Over the next decade, I’d love to see a senior care system that’s both proactive and truly integrated across medical, behavioral, and social dimensions.
Proactivity is key. Right now, many decisions in aging (such as when to hire home care or transition to assisted living) are made reactively, often in crisis. When families plan earlier and feel more prepared, they can reduce stress, avoid unnecessary risks, and improve outcomes overall.
Integration is just as important. With technological advancements, I hope we can achieve better interoperability, seamless coordination between care teams, and more accessible care (spanning both virtual and in-person modalities). I’m curious to see the role that AI will play in fostering early intervention via predictive analytics, increasing provider efficiency, supporting care coordination to address social needs, and more. However, there is no true replacement to human care. Technology can reduce burnout and increase collaboration, but the patient, caregiver, and clinician experience has to stay at the center of it all.
Are there any resources – books, podcasts, stories – that have shaped the way you think about aging and care?
One book that really shaped my thinking early in my career was Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande. I still recommend it often, especially to people who are just entering the eldercare space or navigating end-of-life planning with someone they love. It’s honest, thoughtful, and challenges the reader to contemplate what’s more important; extending life, or enriching it? It helped me frame aging not just as a clinical journey, but as a values-driven one.
And finally, what’s one ingredient to aging well that we don’t talk about enough?
Most of the key ingredients to aging well are familiar – eating well, staying active, getting enough sleep… We know them, but they’re often hard to implement consistently.
One factor that doesn’t get talked about enough, though, is loneliness. We know it has a real impact on health outcomes in older adults, but as an industry, we haven’t figured out how to address it effectively. It’s a complex issue, and I think solving it will require as much creativity and investment as any clinical intervention.