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.
Lovasi GS, Lemaitre RN, Siscovick DS, Dublin S, Bis JC, Lumley T, Heckbert SR, Smith NL, Psaty BM. Amount of leisure-time physical activity and risk of nonfatal myocardial infarction. Ann Epidemiol. 2007;17(6):410-6. Epub 2007 Feb 23. PubMed
Glazer NL, Dublin S, Smith NL, French B, Jackson LA, Hrachovec JB, Siscovick DS, Psaty BM, Heckbert SR. Newly detected atrial fibrillation and compliance with antithrombotic guidelines. Arch Intern Med. 2007;167(3):246-52. PubMed
Velicer CM, Dublin S, White E. Diabetes and the risk of prostate cancer: the role of diabetes treatment and complications. Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis. 2007;10(1):46-51. Epub 2006 Oct 10. PubMed
Velicer CM, Dublin S, White E. Cimetidine use and the risk for prostate cancer: results from the VITAL cohort study. Ann Epidemiol. 2006;16(12):895-900. Epub 2006 Jul 12. PubMed
Oral contraceptives, hormone therapy not linked to more severe COVID outcomes.
Trial is the first to test an individualized approach to improve dementia risk factors.
In a new study, a tool to help discover undiagnosed dementia performed well in 2 separate health systems.
A study led by Dr. Sascha Dublin finds similar outcomes for 3 hypertension medications, filling an evidence gap.