We are pleased to bring you the first 2019 edition of ReFlections, RGA’s global medical newsletter. Within are several thought-provoking articles we hope will start your year out on a good note.
We lead off with an article on iodine and thyroid disease, written by Dr. Jenny Wu, Medical Director, Asia Pacific, and Dr. Heather M. Lund, MBBCh, Chief Medical Officer - Asia. Although iodine deficiency has long been known to cause thyroid disease and a range of secondary sequelae, iodine excess in recent years in certain areas may have caused a substantial increase in incidence of thyroid cancer. An update on thyroid cancer risk classification is also provided. We think you will enjoy their exploration.
RGA’s Electronic Health Records specialist Susan L. Wehrman, Vice President, EHR Initiatives, continues her periodic series of articles about EHR with a piece describing its current state and where trends might be taking its development. As the field continues to evolve, insurers, especially in the U.S., are finding themselves taking a stronger and more central role in the development of advanced and applicable systems.
For the first time, we are featuring an opinion column, written by a new ReFlections author: Dr. Rahul Kumar Garg, Development Underwriter, RGA International. Dr. Garg writes about the evolving role of machine learning and artificial intelligence in both clinical and insurance medicine and the role of the health practitioner.
Finally, our report on The Longer Life Foundation (LLF), the not-for-profit foundation supported by RGA and Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, features an interview with Dr. Samuel Klein, the new head of LLF’s Longevity Research Program. Dr. Klein provides fascinating insights into current scientific thinking about nutrition and obesity, and demonstrates how LLF is advancing knowledge in this area for the insurance industry.
In this Issue
