A graduate of the University of Washington (UW) biostatistics program, Robert Wellman, MS, joined the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI) Biostatistics Unit in 2009. His work spans a diverse collection of topics including mental health, pharmacoepidemiology, postmarketing drug safety surveillance, obesity, diagnostic test accuracy, back pain, and breast cancer. Prior to this, he spent 5 years in the Biostatistics Core at the UW Center for AIDS Research.
Causal inference; longitudinal data; diagnostic and screening test accuracy; clinical trials; survival analysis: rare disease outcomes; nonparametrics; missing data; electronic data; distributed data; statistical computing
Biostatistics; HIV/AIDS; vaccine safety
Biostatistics; clinical trials; back pain
Biostatistics; bariatric surgery
Biostatistics; breast cancer; effects of chemotherapy; accuracy of automated data; screening test accuracy; advanced imaging
Biostatistics; pharmacoepidemiology; postmarketing drug safety surveillance; big data; electronic health record and claims data
Biostatistics; suicide risk prediction, machine learning
Wolock CJ, Williamson BD, Shortreed SM, Simon GE, Coleman KJ, Yeargans R, Ahmedani BK, Daida Y, Lynch FL, Rossom RC, Ziebell RA, Cruz M, Wellman RD, Coley RY. Importance of variables from different time frames for predicting self-harm using health system data. medRxiv [Preprint]. 2024:2024.04.29.24306260. doi: 10.1101/2024.04.29.24306260. PubMed
Wartko PD, Krakauer C, Turner JA, Cook AJ, Boudreau DM, Sullivan MD. STRategies to Improve Pain and Enjoy life (STRIPE): results of a pragmatic randomized trial of pain coping skills training and opioid medication taper guidance for patients on long-term opioid therapy. LID - 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002982 [doi] Pain. 2023 Aug 25. doi: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002982 [Epub ahead of print] PubMed
Balderson BH, Gray SL, Fujii MM, Nakata KG, Williamson BD, Cook AJ, Wellman R, Theis MK, Lewis CC, Key D, Phelan EA. A health-system-embedded deprescribing intervention targeting patients and providers to prevent falls in older adults (STOP-FALLS trial): Study protocol for a pragmatic cluster-randomized controlled trial. Trials. 2023 May 11;24(1):322. doi: 10.1186/s13063-023-07336-7. PubMed
DeBar LL, Justice M, Avins AL, Cook A, Eng CM, Herman PM, Hsu C, Nielsen A, Pressman A, Stone KL, Teets RY, Wellman R. Acupuncture for chronic low back pain in older adults: Design and protocol for the BackInAction pragmatic clinical trial. Contemp Clin Trials. 2023 May;128:107166. doi: 10.1016/j.cct.2023.107166. Epub 2023 Mar 27. PubMed
Shortreed SM, Walker RL, Johnson E, Wellman R, Cruz M, Ziebell R, Coley RY, Yaseen ZS, Dharmarajan S, Penfold RB, Ahmedani BK, Rossom RC, Beck A, Boggs JM, Simon GE. Complex modeling with detailed temporal predictors does not improve health records-based suicide risk prediction. NPJ Digit Med. 2023;6(1):47. doi: 10.1038/s41746-023-00772-4. PubMed
Models that are easier to explain, use could have better uptake in health care settings.
A study among KP members with sleep problems and osteoarthritis shows promise for overcoming obstacles to treatment.
Watch video on latest results from PCORnet Bariatric Study. (Spoiler alert: Bypass, not sleeve.)