Greetings, and welcome to the September 2019 edition of ReFlections!
We are delighted to announce that Dr. Adela Osman
is joining the ReFlections editorial team as Assistant
Editor. Adela, who is Chief Medical Research Officer,
RGA Reinsurance Company of South Africa Limited, has
been a valuable member of RGA’s medical team for three
years. She has more than nine years of experience in the
insurance medicine field, most recently specializing in
product development. We look forward to her leadership
and contributions in the years to come.
A special thank-you goes out to Peter Barrett as he steps
down from his service as co-editor of ReFlections over the
last three years. He will continue in his busy U.K.-based
role as Senior Vice President, Head of Global Support
Team Underwriting, Claims and Medical Support, RGA.
This issue has several interesting and informative articles.
First up is Part II of Dr. Newman L. Harris’s (Consultant
CMO, RGA Australia) interesting and detailed exploration
of ICD-11’s new approach to classifying chronic pain –
information critical for insurance medicine professionals. Also in this issue is an examination and update of the
diagnostic and therapeutic modalities of Alzheimer’s
disease from Dr. Lisa Duckett, Vice President and Medical
Director, U.S. Mortality Markets, RGA. This is Dr. Duckett’s
second article in ReFlections in which she adds significant
information and insight. We present a Brief Report from
Dr. Daniel D. Zimmerman, Senior Vice President, Chief
Medical Director, Global Support Team, RGA, on the latest
developments in ongoing efforts to create a universal flu
vaccine – a topic of extreme interest to insurers worldwide.
The Longer Life Foundation (LLF) page features an
interview with Bettina Mittendorfer, Ph.D., the new director of
LLF’s Longevity Research Program (LRP). Dr. Mittendorfer’s
career-long focus on nutrition’s impact on health is a great
match for LRP’s mission, which she plans to broaden to
encompass how obesity affects a range of disease states.
Consultant Psychiatrist and Chief Medical Officer, RGA Australia (ret.)
Associate Professor, Griffith University School of Medicine, Senior Visiting Medical Officer, Pain Management and Research Institute of the University of Sydney and Royal North Shore Hospital,
Senior Staff Specialist in Pain Management, Gold Coast University Hospital
