Sascha Dublin, MD, PhD, is a general internist and epidemiologist who studies the health effects of prescription medications and other interventions using real-world health care data. Through her work, she aims to provide better information about the risks and benefits of different treatments so patients and doctors can make well-informed decisions.
Much of Dr. Dublin’s research focuses on the outcomes of medication use or other interventions during pregnancy. These studies take advantage of the rich clinical data available through electronic health records (EHRs). Some of her current work in this area includes:
Dr. Dublin recently led an impactful study with Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute colleagues exploring different methods to screen for diabetes in pregnancy. This work examined how outcomes changed for mothers and babies after Kaiser Permanente Washington made a big shift in their approach to gestational diabetes screening. This project found that a new, more intensive approach to screening did not improve health outcomes, and may have even worsened some. As a result, Kaiser Permanente Washington changed back to the previous, more widely used screening approach.
Beyond pregnancy, Dr. Dublin’s work includes studies of medication use and dementia risk in older adults. For example, her team found that heavy use of some commonly used medications including antihistamines increases dementia risk. They also found that one widely used medication class, proton pump inhibitors, does not increase the risk of dementia—in contrast to some earlier reports—or fractures.
Dr. Dublin has a strong interest in epidemiologic methods, particularly finding ways to better measure important variables. She has led methods workgroups for the FDA’s Sentinel Initiative and has experience using natural language processing and collecting data from patients through mobile phone apps. Dr. Dublin also has interest and expertise in improving the rigor and validity of observational studies by improving how they account for patients’ other illnesses and overall health status.
Dr. Dublin previously held a Paul B. Beeson Career Development Award (K23) from the National Institute on Aging. She sees patients one day a week in primary care at Kaiser Permanente Washington.
Dublin S, Walker RL, Jackson ML, Nelson JC, Weiss NS, Von Korff M, Jackson LA. Use of opioids or benzodiazepines and risk of pneumonia in older adults: a population-based case-control study. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2011 Oct;59(10):1899-907. doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.2011.03586.x. Epub 2011 Sep 13. PubMed
Dublin S, Anderson ML, Haneuse SJ, Heckbert SR, Crane PK, Breitner JC, McCormick W, Bowen JD, Teri L, McCurry SM, Larson EB. Atrial fibrillation and risk of dementia: a prospective cohort study. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2011;59(8):1369-1375. doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.2011.03508.x. Epub 2011 Aug 1. PubMed
Davis RL, Eastman D, McPhillips H, Raebel MA, Andrade SE, Smith D, Ulcickas Yood M, Dublin S, Platt R. Risks of congenital malformations and perinatal events among infants exposed to calcium channel and beta-blockers during pregnancy. Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf. 2011 Feb;20(2):138-45. doi: 10.1002/pds.2068. Epub 2010 Nov 15. doi: 10.1002/pds.2068. PubMed
Gray SL, Walker R, Dublin S, Haneuse S, Crane PK, Breitner JC, Bowen J, McCormick W, Larson EB. Histamine-2 receptor antagonist use and incident dementia in an older cohort. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2011;59(2):251-57. doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.2010.03275.x. PubMed
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A study led by Dr. Sascha Dublin finds similar outcomes for 3 hypertension medications, filling an evidence gap.