Richard Russell

Richard Russell is vice president of biometric research within RGA’s global research & development team.

He is a frequent speaker at conferences, seminars, and industry events, presenting on topics such as COVID-19 and emerging biometric trend drivers, including GLP-1 therapies and multi-cancer early detection technologies.

Russell holds a bachelor of science in biotechnology, a master of science in bioinformatics (with distinction), and a PhD in statistics, all from Imperial College London. He has written more than 30 peer-reviewed publications in leading journals, including the Lancet, BMJ Open, PLOS One, and Annals of Actuarial Science.

Most Recent

Hantavirus and Ebola Outbreaks Highlight Pandemic Preparedness

How to Manage Pandemic Risk

By

Georgiana Willwerth

Richard Russell

Recent hantavirus and Ebola outbreaks underscore that pandemic preparedness depends on rapid detection and response systems, not pathogen severity alone.

All Articles

Pile of Pill Packets

Mortality Impact of GLP-1 Drugs

By

Richard Russell

Craig Armstrong

RGA study finds incretin drugs could reduce mortality up to 8.8%, so insurers should reassess assumptions.

A Student Wearing a Face Mask

Lessons From COVID-19 for Life Insurers

By

Richard Russell

Marie-Christine Boucher

Four years on from COVID-19, life insurers have a key opportunity to assess the accuracy of their risk models and better prepare for the next global pandemic.

Six Things

Generative AI's Surprises (Thus Far)

By Paul Carroll

Who would have guessed that AI would take jobs away from Kenyans ghost writing essays for cheating American college students?

Insurance Industry Faces Growing Trust Crisis

The insurance industry has always had a trust problem. What is new is the intensity — and the number of forces converging to make it harder to ignore.

1

Good Recruiting Can't Fix Broken Onboarding

Most new insurance producers fail within two years, not from poor recruiting but from inadequate onboarding and operational support.

2

How AI Search Changes Insurance Marketing

A new decision layer is forming above the traditional sales funnel. Traditional measures of effectiveness no longer matter. 

3

Why Human Audits of AI Decisions Fail

As AI scales, insurers relying on sampling to audit AI decisions may be kidding themselves.

4

Enterprise AI Adoption Will Soon Be Top-Down

Enterprise AI adoption will shift from grassroots experimentation to top-down mandates as investors demand returns on trillion-dollar infrastructure bets.

5

Ransomware Trends in 2026 for Cyber Insurers

Ransomware losses now extend beyond file encryption to stolen credentials, cloud compromise and shared dependencies that can accumulate hidden risk.

6

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The Answer to Too Much Technology Is More Technology

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Getting Beyond Traditional Wildfire Risk Analysis

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Turning Insurance Data Into an AI Knowledge Base

Insurance AI Success Hinges on Data Governance

By

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