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Opinion & experiences | Personal blogs

The Alzheimer's Research scandal: fraud, fallout, and the future

For nearly 20 years, a single flawed theory shaped Alzheimer’s research and billions in funding. In this blog, Mia Marcellus dives into the fraud that misled science, its lasting impact, and what's next for Alzheimer's research.

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All News and insights

All the latest information, news and research from the Club Vita team.

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Business updates | Press releases

Club Vita Announces Key Promotions to Strengthen North American Leadership

Club Vita, an independent longevity analytics partner for pension plans, insurers, reinsurers, and advisers, announces four senior promotions across its US and Canadian teams. These appointments reinforce Club Vita’s commitment to expanding its global analytical and client-facing capabilities, supported by leaders based in North America.

30 March 2026

General interest | Top charts

Top Charts 26-03 – I can’t get e’no’ugh sleep!

World Sleep Day is upon us (March 13th, 2026) and with sleep being a key driver of health and longevity, Thomas Spanos investigates the question: Are adults in Canada, the US and UK getting enough sleep?

12 March 2026

Current issues | Top charts

Top Charts 26-02 – International comparison of obesity rates

With anti-obesity medication currently as a hot topic in the longevity space, in this month’s Top Charts we take a look at obesity rates in Club Vita’s key geographies. What proportion of people are obese and how has this changed over time?

27 February 2026

Explainers | VitaMins

VitaMins 26-01 - International comparison of working age mortality in the 21st century

Now six years on from the emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that shook the world, emerging mortality statistics are starting to map out a new normal. Retiree populations are now beginning to see the re-emergence of mortality improvements, however the picture is not the same across the age spectrum.

5 January 2026

General interest | Top charts

Top Charts 25-12 – Driving Home for Christmas?

With the holidays fast approaching, will you be following in the late Chris Rea’s footsteps and Driving Home for Christmas? If so, beware of the close-to-home effect and be extra careful when nearing your destination!

18 December 2025

Opinion & experiences | Personal blogs

The Alzheimer's Research scandal: fraud, fallout, and the future

12 November 2025

General interest | Top charts

Top Charts 25-09 – Post-COVID International Comparison

The World Health Organization declared an end to COVID-19 as a public health emergency in May 2023. As a result, 2023 marks the first year to assess the post-COVID longevity landscape and how this varies by country. In this edition of Top Charts, Nick Chadwick and Jill Jamieson look at changes in life expectancy from 2019 to 2023 for various…

19 September 2025

General interest | Top charts

Top Charts 25-08: Alcohol consumption in the UK, US and Canada

A recent survey by US pollsters Gallup indicates that Americans are turning their backs on alcohol more than ever before. Medical advice warns that drinking alcohol poses health risks, regardless of the amount. In our latest edition of Top Charts, Erik Pickett asks the question: how does alcohol consumption differ between the UK, US and Canada?

26 August 2025

General interest | Top charts

Top Charts 25-07 – Differences in life expectancy in US Public Sector Pension Plans

In August 2024, the National Association of State Retirement Administrators (NASRA) released a comprehensive survey outlining the mortality assumptions for some of the largest Public Pension Systems across the United States. In this month’s Top Charts, Carmen Gatta looks at how life expectancy differs under these different assumptions and asks…

29 July 2025

Research & technical | Research & technical notes

2025 US Public Pension Mortality Assumption Benchmarking

In August 2024, the National Association of State Retirement Administrators (NASRA) released a comprehensive survey outlining the mortality assumptions used by many of the largest public pension systems in the United States. To help put these assumptions into context, Club Vita modeled the life expectancy (LE) at age 65 for both males and females…

8 July 2025

General interest | Top charts

Top Charts 25-05 – Expectations for life expectancy increases vs actuarial models

Will a 60-year-old in 2044 live longer than today – and by how much? And do our expectations match up to mortality projection models in common use? Our recent Risk of Living Longer survey reveals shifting expectations around future longevity and what it could mean for pensions, insurance, and risk planning.

28 May 2025

General interest | Top charts

Top Charts 25-04 – Do people believe human lifespan will reach 130 years?

Within the longevity world there is an active debate around the maximum achievable human lifespan. Some schools of thought believe we’ve pretty much reached our maximum. Others believe extreme long life might be just around the corner. In our recent Risk of Living Longer survey, we asked our participants what they thought.

28 April 2025

General interest | Top charts

Top Charts 25-03 – Socio-economic differences in physical activity in the US

It’s well documented that increased physical activity contributes to better health and longevity outcomes. It is also well documented that lower socio-economic groups have lower longevity than higher socio-economic groups. Could the two be linked? In this edition of Top Charts, Erik Pickett compares activity levels in the US by socio-economic…

18 March 2025

General interest | Other

Risk of Living Longer Survey, March 2025

Our ongoing webinar series – The Risk of Living Longer – explored the potential drivers of increased future longevity and delved into the profound question: How long can we go? Accompanying the series, we sent out a survey to participants asking them about their views on future longevity. It gives us great pleasure to present the results.

14 March 2025

Explainers | Expert response

Club Vita Summary: Society of Actuaries’ PUB-2016 Report (Exposure Draft, Jan 2025)

The Society of Actuaries (SOA) Research Institute’s Retirement Plans Experience Committee (RPEC) released the Pub-2016 Mortality Table Draft Exposure Report in January 2025, providing updated mortality tables for U.S. public pension plans. The tables were developed based on data from 2013 through 2019. In this edition of VitaMins, Carmen Gatta and…

12 March 2025

Explainers | External publications

Old Tables, New Realities: The Changing Face of Pension Plan Mortality

Club Vita’s Carmen Gatta contributes an article discussing the power of multifactor mortality modeling to the International Foundation of Employee Benefits Plans’ Benefits Magazine.

4 February 2025

Explainers | External publications

Long-Term Drivers of Future Mortality

Club Vita's Erik Pickett joins Al Klein to discuss the paper "Long-Term Drivers of Future Mortality" in a podcast series for Research Insights, a Society of Actuaries Podcast.

30 January 2025

General interest | Top charts

Top Charts 24-12: Do we really wish it could be Christmas every day?

Inspired by the festive classic I wish it could be Christmas Every Day by British glam-rock band Wizzard, in this edition of Top Charts, Erik Pickett ponders the impact on life expectancy if it really was Christmas every day.

19 December 2024

General interest | Top charts

Top Charts 24-11: The rise of Alzheimer’s and dementia

Erik Pickett looks at deaths due to dementia and Alzheimer’s in the US and England & Wales. This cause already accounts for significant numbers of deaths, but with aging populations these numbers are likely to increase even further in the future – unless we manage to make progress with prevention or treatment!

27 November 2024

General interest | Top charts

Top Charts 24-10: The impact of mortality on Actuarially Determined Contributions

In this edition of Top Charts Carmen Gatta looks at how normal cost contributions in a US Defined Benefit pension plan can vary with mortality assumptions.

4 November 2024

General interest | Top charts

Top Charts 24-09: Happiness and life expectancy

In this edition of Top Charts, Jill Jamieson and Erik Pickett look at the correlation between happiness and life expectancy at birth.

18 September 2024

Explainers | VitaMins

The Risk of Living Longer: What if new senolytic drugs fulfil their potential?

People have a natural tendency to underestimate life expectancy and actuaries traditionally base future projections on extrapolations of observed historical experience; this can result in institutional blind spots to extreme future longevity events. But what would happen if one of these overlooked scenarios occurred?

22 August 2024

General interest | Top charts

Top Charts 24-03 – Have we seen an end to COVID waves in the US?

US population level death data is now available through the end of 2023, giving us a good overview of excess deaths progressed through the year. In this addition of Top Charts, Erik Pickett examines how weekly deaths have progressed since the beginning of the pandemic, and asks whether we’ve now seen the end of extreme COVID waves of deaths in the…

25 March 2024

General interest | Pandemic updates

How different states have experienced COVID-19 through December 31, 2023

This is an update of our analysis of state-level excess mortality data up to December 31, 2023 (data available as at February 27, 2024). COVID-19 deaths persist, but total deaths have dropped to levels broadly in line with pre-pandemic trends. Has society now adjusted to living with the virus as part of everyday life?

20 March 2024

General interest | Personal blogs

The Longevity of Robert Burns

"Tonight, Scots around the world will be celebrating the immortal memory of Robert Burns, our national poet. Burns made a remarkable contribution to the richness of humankind in his short time on Earth. Tributes to his legacy will touch on many aspects of his life. It made me wonder about his contribution to longevity." - Douglas Anderson

24 January 2024

Explainers | External publications

Club Vita responds to the IRS’s Request for Comment on Plan Specific Substitute Mortality Tables for Determining…

On October 20th, 2023, the IRS issued a proposed update to its rule regarding plan-specific substitute mortality tables for determining present value and an accompanying Request for Comment.

23 January 2024

General interest | Personal blogs

Ten reasons to be cheerful: 2024 New Year edition

As has become his annual tradition, Douglas kicks off 2024 with a note of positivity. To help you keep the January blues at bay, he has collected together his top ten positive health stories from 2023.

8 January 2024

General interest | Top charts

Top Charts 23-13: Tontine days of retirement

In this holiday-special edition of Top Charts, Erik Pickett and Carmen Gatta explore which group from song the 12 days of Christmas with whom it would be best to enter a tontine contract.

3 January 2024

General interest | VitaMins

VitaMins Health: GLP-1 obesity medications - will they be as big as statins for life expectancy?

The World Health Organization has referred to obesity as “one of today’s most blatantly visible – yet most neglected – public health problems”. But excitement is now rising around new appetite-suppressing medications with public health organizations hopeful that these treatments may help tackle this growing epidemic.

17 November 2023

General interest | Top charts

Top Charts 23-10: US cause of death by socio-economic status over time

Fresh on our return from this year’s Society of Actuaries’ ImpACT conference, we were struck by how much discussion there was around causes of death and their differing impacts by socio-economic status. In response, in this Top Chart, Natalie and Erik look at how some common causes of death differ by socio-economic status in the US and how this…

10 November 2023