In this webinar, we have two presentations showing the latest research on the implications for life and health insurers of two key issues: genomics and pandemic risk.
Dr Peter Joshi and Paul Timmers will share their research on how well-established underwriting processes can allow for genomics in predicting expected mortality and morbidity. They will then discuss the potential for stratified screening and personalised medicine to improve health and reduce claim costs.
Dr Gordon Woo, experienced catastrophist, will discuss the impact of ecological changes on pandemic risk. COVID-19 has concentrated actuarial attention on pandemics as being a key risk factor for insurers. Starting from a review of five near-miss dangerous infectious diseases of the first two decades of the 21st century, the ecological impact on pandemic risk will be assessed for the coming decades and insights presented on what this may mean for life and health actuaries.
There will be time for discussion and questions with the experts at the end of the presentations.
Chair: Vicky Gardner, SCOR
Vicky Gardner is Head of Data Analytics for the UK and Ireland at SCOR Life, where she works within the Innovation team. Part of her role is to use data to find insights into protection business, including analysing the impact that different customer and distribution features have on business performance. Vicky has had a variety of pricing and R&D roles within her six years at SCOR and also in previous jobs at both AIG Life and Legal & General. Vicky is chair of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries Health & Care Research Sub-Committee, which sets up and oversees working parties within the Health & Care practice area.
Vicky has a BSc in Mathematics and an MSc in Applied Mathematics from the University of Bath and qualified as an actuary in 2012.
Speakers:
Peter Joshi and Paul Timmers (topic 1)
Peter Joshi worked in Financial Services from 1988-2010, when he retrained as a genetic epidemiologlist, specialising in genomic analysis of age-related diseases and lifespan, running his own research group as a Chancellor's Fellow at the University of Edinburgh. He has just set up a business advising companies on genomic propositions.
Paul Timmers completed a Ph.D. in Precision Medicine at the University of Edinburgh in 2020, where he studied the genetic determinants of human lifespan, and Scottish trends in mortality and morbidity. His work has been featured in international genetics conferences, as well as BBC Radio Scotland and BBC Radio 4. Currently, Paul is working as a postdoctoral data analyst at the Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine in Edinburgh, where he is using large-scale genomics, metabolomics, and electronic health records to identify molecular targets to improve longevity.
Gordon Woo (topic 2)
Gordon Woo is a catastrophist at RMS, specialising in the mathematical modelling of extreme insurance risks. In 2006, he was a leading architect of the pioneering RMS pandemic risk model, which was developed for life insurers faced with the threat of an avian flu pandemic. Since then, he has been actively involved in pandemic research, including presenting, at the 2018 IFoA hot topics in health and care seminar, on the age-dependence of 1918 pandemic mortality. Dr. Woo graduated as the top mathematician of his year at Cambridge, completed his PhD as a Kennedy Scholar at MIT, and was a member of the Harvard Society of Fellows. He is a visiting professor at University College London, and an adjunct professor at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He is the author of the books, ‘The Mathematics of Natural Catastrophes’ and ‘Calculating Catastrophe’, published by Imperial College Press.
Event organiser
Contact Events Team for more information.
eventmanagement@actuaries.org.uk
0207 632 1498
Live broadcast to begin at 12:00 (GMT)
Chair: Vicky Gardner, SCOR
Vicky Gardner is Head of Data Analytics for the UK and Ireland at SCOR Life, where she works within the Innovation team. Part of her role is to use data to find insights into protection business, including analysing the impact that different customer and distribution features have on business performance. Vicky has had a variety of pricing and R&D roles within her six years at SCOR and also in previous jobs at both AIG Life and Legal & General. Vicky is chair of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries Health & Care Research Sub-Committee, which sets up and oversees working parties within the Health & Care practice area.
Vicky has a BSc in Mathematics and an MSc in Applied Mathematics from the University of Bath and qualified as an actuary in 2012.
Speakers:
Peter Joshi and Paul Timmers (topic 1)
Peter Joshi worked in Financial Services from 1988-2010, when he retrained as a genetic epidemiologlist, specialising in genomic analysis of age-related diseases and lifespan, running his own research group as a Chancellor's Fellow at the University of Edinburgh. He has just set up a business advising companies on genomic propositions.
Paul Timmers completed a Ph.D. in Precision Medicine at the University of Edinburgh in 2020, where he studied the genetic determinants of human lifespan, and Scottish trends in mortality and morbidity. His work has been featured in international genetics conferences, as well as BBC Radio Scotland and BBC Radio 4. Currently, Paul is working as a postdoctoral data analyst at the Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine in Edinburgh, where he is using large-scale genomics, metabolomics, and electronic health records to identify molecular targets to improve longevity.
Gordon Woo (topic 2)
Gordon Woo is a catastrophist at RMS, specialising in the mathematical modelling of extreme insurance risks. In 2006, he was a leading architect of the pioneering RMS pandemic risk model, which was developed for life insurers faced with the threat of an avian flu pandemic. Since then, he has been actively involved in pandemic research, including presenting, at the 2018 IFoA hot topics in health and care seminar, on the age-dependence of 1918 pandemic mortality. Dr. Woo graduated as the top mathematician of his year at Cambridge, completed his PhD as a Kennedy Scholar at MIT, and was a member of the Harvard Society of Fellows. He is a visiting professor at University College London, and an adjunct professor at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He is the author of the books, ‘The Mathematics of Natural Catastrophes’ and ‘Calculating Catastrophe’, published by Imperial College Press.