Recognition Fall 2025
- Hickman joins KPWHRI as director of Investigative Science
- Angerhofer gives talks at 2 events focused on suicide prevention
- Wernli presents at summit for lung cancer Centers of Excellence
- Hyun and Williamson give webinar for NIH ‘Mind the Gap’ series
- Simon presents at special session of Rethinking Clinical Trials Grand Rounds
- WPMG event for future public health leaders features Blasi, McEvoy, and Rosenberg
- Wernli represents KPWHRI’s LARCH Study at international conference
Hickman joins KPWHRI as director of Investigative Science
Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI) recently welcomed Susan Hickman, PhD, to lead the institute’s Investigative Science Division. The division has about 20 doctorate-trained scientific investigators, including physician scientists, epidemiologists, psychologists, and health services researchers.
Dr. Hickman is a clinical geropsychologist focused on optimizing quality of life for older adults through improved decision-making and communication about treatment preferences. She is nationally recognized for her work to help ensure that patients’ end-of-life treatment preferences are known and honored as well as for her work translating research into policy. A focus of her externally funded research over the past 2 decades has been on studying the effect of the POLST: Portable Medical Orders model on the care of seriously ill older adults, particularly in the nursing home setting. Her research findings are used to support programs based on the POLST model across the country.
Dr. Hickman brings extensive leadership experience to KPWHRI. From 2019 to 2025, she served as director of the Indiana University Center for Aging Research at the Regenstreif Institute — an organization focused on health systems science and health services research. She also served as interim president and CEO of the Regenstreif Institute from 2022 to 2023.
“As a leader,” Dr. Hickman shared, “I strive to foster an environment that supports innovative research to positively impact health and well-being through advocacy, listening deeply, and empowering others.”
Angerhofer gives talks at 2 events focused on suicide prevention
KPWHRI Associate Investigator Julie Angerhofer, PhD, MPH, was a plenary speaker at Maryland's 37th Annual Suicide Prevention Conference in October. Organized by the Maryland Department of Health, the statewide conference featured national leaders sharing research, tools, and strategies on the theme: “Creating Safe Spaces: Empowering Individuals and Communities in Suicide Prevention.” Angerhofer’s talk was titled “Effectiveness of Integrating Suicide Care in Primary Care.” In September, she also spoke at the Annual Innovation Summit hosted by the Center for Accelerating Practices to End Suicide (CAPES) at UMass Chan Medical School. Her talk was titled “Developing Effective Clinical Decision Support for Addressing Suicide Risk in Healthcare.”
Wernli presents at summit for lung cancer Centers of Excellence
In October, KPWHRI Senior Investigator Karen Wernli, PhD, presented at the GO2 for Lung Cancer 2025 Centers of Excellence Summit in Denver. The summit featured a panel of national and international lung cancer experts who presented on new technologies and therapies and discussed the successes and challenges of program implementation. The title of Wernli’s talk was “Lung Cancer Screening with Low-Dose CT: The Gold Standard for Lung Cancer Screening.”
Hyun and Williamson give webinar for NIH ‘Mind the Gap’ series
KPWHRI Biostatistics Investigators Noorie Hyun, PhD, and Brian Williamson, PhD, led a webinar in September as part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Methods: Mind the Gap webinar series. Titled “Design and Analysis Considerations for Assessing Heterogeneity of Treatment Effects in Cluster-Randomized Trials,” their webinar focused on methodological considerations when evaluating differential effects of interventions in population subgroups. View webinar recording.
Simon presents at special session of Rethinking Clinical Trials Grand Rounds
In September, KPWHRI Senior Investigator Greg Simon, MD, MPH, was 1 of 3 leaders from the NIH Pragmatic Trials Collaboratory to present in a special session of Rethinking Clinical Trials Grand Rounds: “Significance in Pragmatic Clinical Trials: P Values vs. Decision-Maker Perspectives.” Simon is a member of the NIH Collaboratory leadership team and cochair of the NIH Collaboratory’s Health Care Systems Interactions Core.
WPMG event for future public health leaders features Blasi, McEvoy, and Rosenberg
Three KPWHRI scientists spoke in August at the Future Public Health Leaders Summer Program led by Washington Permanente Medical Group (WPMG): Senior Collaborative Scientist Paula Blasi, MPH, and Senior Investigators Linda McEvoy, PhD, and Dori Rosenberg, PhD, MPH. The trio talked about their academic histories and described their current work with undergraduates aspiring to build a career in public health. The future leaders program is part of WPMG’s Health Care Career Pathways, which offers programs for college students from groups that have not been well represented in health professions.
Wernli represents KPWHRI’s LARCH Study at international conference
In June, the 2025 International Cancer Screening Conference in Aarhus, Denmark, featured findings from KPWHRI’s LARCH Study, which focuses on multilevel interventions to increase adherence to lung cancer screening. Senior Investigator Karen Wernli, PhD, presented 4 poster talks on behalf of the study team:
- “Video Intervention Improves Patient Knowledge of Timeliness to Return for Annual Lung Cancer Screening”
- “Reach of Digital Interventions to Address Disparities in Repeat Lung Cancer Screening in Washington State”
- “Patient Engagement in Lung Cancer Screening Intervention Development and Program Improvement, Washington, USA”
- “Patient Perspectives on the Acceptability and Appropriateness of Two Pragmatic Lung Cancer Screening Interventions Designed to Improve Adherence in Washington, USA”
Wernli’s KPWHRI coauthors across the 4 posters include: Melissa Anderson, Hongyuan Gao, Beverly Green, Lorella Palazzo, James Ralston, Kristine Rogers, Yu-Ru Su, and Anjali Vasavada.
Recognition archive
Land Acknowledgment
Our Seattle offices sit on the occupied land of the Duwamish and by the shared waters of the Coast Salish people, who have been here thousands of years and remain. Learn about practicing land acknowledgment.