Gregory E. Simon, MD, MPH
“We bring a practical approach to mental health research, working to break down barriers between research and real-world health care.”
Gregory E. Simon, MD, MPH
Senior Investigator, Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute
Psychiatrist, Washington Permanente Medical Group
Professor, Department of Health Systems Science, Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine
Research Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington
Biography
Greg Simon, MD, MPH, is a psychiatrist and senior investigator well-known for his extensive research on practical approaches to improving mental health care. He seeks to develop and evaluate effective real-world strategies that support better mental health and wellness. Current areas of emphasis include identifying and assessing suicide risk, improving care for treatment-resistant depression, and reducing racial and ethnic disparities in mental health care.
Dr. Simon leads the Mental Health Research Network (MHRN), a consortium of research centers affiliated with 13 large health systems across the United States, including Kaiser Permanente Washington. This network, originally funded through a cooperative agreement with the National Institute of Mental Health, aims to improve the efficiency, relevance, and impact of mental health clinical and health services research. The MHRN is exploring a broad range of issues—including suicide prevention, improving heart health in people with serious mental illness, using electronic medical records to improve follow-up care for depression, and understanding the causes of racial and ethnic disparities in mental health care.
Dr. Simon and his MHRN colleagues have conducted several large studies across MHRN health systems, including:
- A pragmatic trial in four health systems examining the effect of systematic outreach programs to prevent suicide attempt among people at high risk.
- Using electronic health records from seven health systems to develop and validate machine learning models to identify people at high risk of suicidal behavior.
- A pragmatic trial in two health systems evaluating electronic health record tools to reduce risk of cardiovascular disease in people with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
- A rigorous evaluation of Zero Suicide care improvement programs in six health systems
- Developing measures to assess quality of care for depression in two health systems.
Dr. Simon sits on the editorial board for the journal General Hospital Psychiatry, and co-chairs the National Academy of Medicine’s Forum on Drug Discovery, Development and Translation.. Dr. Simon has practiced adult psychiatry in Kaiser Permanente Washington's Mental Health and Wellness Service since 1990. He is also a professor in the department of Health Systems Science at the Bernard J Tyson Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine and an adjunct professor inPsychiatry and Behavioral Dciences at the University of Washington.
Research interests and experience
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Mental Health
Depression; bipolar disorder; suicide prevention; self-management; treatment adherence
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Chronic Illness Management
Comorbidity of mental health conditions with obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and substance use disorders.
Recent publications
Simon GE, Wellman R, Shortreed SM, Johnson E, Sterling SA, Coleman KJ, Ahmedani BK, Yaseen ZS, Mosholder AD Predicting and differentiating opioid and non-opioid drug poisonings using health records data 2025 Dec 22;182:209861. doi: 10.1016/j.josat.2025.209861. Epub 2025-12-22. PubMed
Brown CH, Smith JD, Haegerich T, Simon G, Cero I, Aarons G, Prado G, Wyman P, Kane J, Robinson D, Walunas TL, Zimmerman L, Vermeer W, Chin-Purcell L, McNulty M, Christopoulos KA, Garner B, McGovern M What scientific inferences can be made with randomized implementation rollout trials 2025 Dec 11 doi: 10.1186/s13012-025-01465-0. Epub 2025-12-11. PubMed
Coleman KJ, Stewart C, Ahmedani BK, Kahn G, Penfold RB, Frank C, Angerhofer JE, Boggs JM, Sterling S, Yarborough BJH, Clarke G, Schoenbaum M, Aguirre-Miyamoto EM, Barton LJ, Yeh HH, Westphal J, McDonald S, Beck A, Beidas RS, Richardson L, Ryan JM, Buckingham ET, Buttlaire S, Bruschke C, Flores J, Harry ML, Simon GE Suicide Prevention Among People of Different Races and Ethnicities in Large Health Systems: Implications for Practice 2025 Dec;76(12):1066-1073. doi: 10.1176/appi.ps.20240477. Epub 2025-11-06. PubMed
Rossom RC, Yeh HH, Penfold RB, Simon GE, Hooker SA, Ma L, Miller-Matero L, Owen-Smith A, Ahmedani BK Psychiatric Medication Adherence in the United States Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic 2025 Oct;34(10):e70229. doi: 10.1002/pds.70229. PubMed
Stewart CC, Simon G, Ahmedani BK, Beck A, Daida YG, Lynch FL, Owen-Smith AA, Negriff SL, Rossom R, Sterling SA, Lu CY, Schoenbaum M Variation in completeness of coding external cause of injuries under ICD-10-CM 2025 Sep 23;31(5):412-415 doi:10.1136/ip-2023-045164. doi: 10.1136/ip-2023-045164. Epub 2024-06-21. PubMed
Simon GE, Shortreed SM, Johnson E, Ahmedani BK, Sterling SA, Campbell CI, Hechter RC, Ziebell RA, Parthasarathy S Risk of self-harm and overdose after starting buprenorphine for opioid use disorder 2025 Sep;96:90-96. doi: 10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2025.06.010. Epub 2025-06-24. PubMed
Schillok H, Gensichen J, Panagioti M, Gunn J, Junker L, Lukaschek K, Jung-Sievers C, Sterner P, Kaupe L, Dreischulte T, Ali MK, Aragonès E, Bekelman DB, Herbeck Belnap B, Carney RM, Chwastiak LA, Coventry PA, Davidson KW, Ekstrand ML, Flehr A, Fletcher S, Hölzel LP, Huijbregts K, Mohan V, Patel V, Richards DA, Rollman BL, Salisbury C, Simon GE, Srinivasan K, Unützer J, van der Feltz-Cornelis CM, Wells KB, Zimmermann T, Bühner M, POKAL Group Effective Components of Collaborative Care for Depression in Primary Care: An Individual Participant Data Meta-Analysis 2025 Sep;82(9):868-876. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2025.0183. Epub 2025-03-26. PubMed
Cruz M, Shortreed SM, Simon GE, Coley Y Evaluating Clinical Implementation of Risk Prediction Based Interventions Using Difference-In-Differences 2025 Jul 21 doi: 10.1111/1475-6773.70015. Epub 2025-07-21. PubMed
Boggs JM, Yarborough BJH, Clarke G, Aguirre-Miyamoto EM, Barton LJ, Beck A, Bruschke C, Buttlaire S, Coleman KJ, Flores JP, Penfold R, Powers JD, Richards JA, Richardson L, Runkle A, Ryan JM, Simon GE, Sterling S, Stewart C, Stumbo S, Quintana LM, Yeh HH, Ahmedani BK Development and Validation of Electronic Health Record Measures of Safety Planning Practices as Part of Zero Suicide Implementation 2025 Jul;29(3):654-667. doi: 10.1080/13811118.2024.2394676. Epub 2024-08-28. PubMed
Simon GE, Ziebell RA, Johnson E, Shortreed SM Do health records data accurately identify repeat self-harm after emergency department visits? 2025 Jun 27 doi: 10.1101/2025.06.26.25330358. Epub 2025-06-27. PubMed
Research
Researchers have a proven prescription for reducing suicide rates
In a new multistate study, the Zero Suicide Model reduced suicide rates by 25%.
Research
Suicide attempts decreased after adding suicide care to primary care
Safety planning and risk screening improved outcomes for adult patients.
Research
Can machine learning help treat depression more effectively?
A new grant funds modeling work to make personalized treatment possible.
Research
Understanding adoption of Lock to Live, a decision aid supporting suicide prevention
KPWHRI research finds ways to increase use of a firearm safety tool.
Research
A medication that can relieve symptoms of psychosis is underused
Study finds that many patients who might benefit from clozapine don’t receive it.
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