Neuralink Corp. imagines a world where people view the implantation of electronic devices in their skulls with the same casual acceptance as getting Lasik surgery on their eyes. One obstacle to this futuristic vision, though, is the startup’s founder, billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk. Musk’s frequent erratic decisions and controversial public persona raise a persistent question about Neuralink: Is this the man you want putting a chip in your head? Luckily for Neuralink, that specific job falls to a different guy. Matthew MacDougall, an even-keeled, affable neurosurgeon, has worked seven years at the company, largely behind the scenes until recently. As Neuralink’s device goes through human trials, MacDougall has assumed a greater public presence. He sat next to Musk during a live public update on the company this year, he’s appeared on high-profile podcasts, and in January he oversaw the first implantation of one of the company’s devices in a human brain. MacDougall has become an ambassador for the idea of brain surgery. “There’s a mysticism still around the inviolable barrier that the skull represents, and I think that needs to be treated like any other pragmatic barrier,” he told computer scientist Lex Fridman in an August podcast interview. “The question isn’t, ‘How incredible is it to open the skull?’ The question is, ‘What benefit can we provide?’” What Neuralink has done, with MacDougall’s help, is usher in an age where brain-implanted chips suddenly seem plausible, even desirable. It has become the foremost of a group of startups — among them Paradromics Inc., Precision Neuroscience Corp. and Science Corp. — that are working toward a sleeker generation of wireless devices that treat ailments such as ALS, blindness and paralysis.

Full profile : Neuralink’s top neurosurgeon Matthew MacDougall, who has worked there for seven years and is an even-keeled, affable counterbalance to Elon Musk.