Heart disease is the leading cause of death for Americans. Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI) scientists are working to understand how to reduce our risk of heart attacks, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases throughout life.
Addressing risk factors, improving diagnosis, and exploring how medications, genes, and everyday life affect our cardiovascular health at different ages and stages are central to this work — as is translating research findings into practical, personalized care.
“We’ve found that helping patients and health care teams work together on personalized care plans is the best path to lifelong heart health,” says Beverly Green, MD, MPH, whose recent work has focused on improving the diagnosis of high blood pressure.
Additional focus areas for KPWHRI scientists include exploring the impact of cardiovascular diseases on other health conditions — and vice versa. Recently, this has led researchers Sascha Dublin, MD, PhD, and Laura B. Harrington, PhD, MPH, to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular health.
Below are other research highlights from KPWHRI’s cardiovascular health scientists (please visit their bios to learn more):
Barbalic M, Dupuis J, Dehghan A, Bis JC, Hoogeveen RC, Schnabel RB, Nambi V, Bretler M, Smith NL, Peters A, Lu C, Tracy RP, Aleksic N, Heeriga J, Keaney JF Jr, Rice K, Lip GY, Vasan RS, Glazer NL, Larson MG, Uitterlinden AG, Yamamoto J, Durda P, Haritunians T, Psaty BM, Boerwinkle E, Hofman A, Koenig W, Jenny NS, Witteman JC, Ballantyne C, Benjamin EJ. Large-scale genomic studies reveal central role of ABO in sP-selectin and sICAM-1 levels. Hum Mol Genet. 2010;19(9):1863-72. Epub 2010 Feb 18. PubMed
Dupuis J, Langenberg C, Prokopenko I, Saxena R, Soranzo N, Jackson AU, Wheeler E, Glazer NL, Bouatia-Naji N, Gloyn AL, LindgrenCM, Magi R, Morris AP, Randall J, Johnson T, Elliott P, Rybin D, Thorleifsson G, Steinthorsdottir V, Henneman P, Grallert H, DehghanA, Hottenga JJ, Franklin CS, Navarro P, Song K, Goel A, Perry JR, Egan JM, Lajunen T, Grarup N, Sparsø T, Doney A, Voight BF,Stringham HM, Li M, Kanoni S, Shrader P, Cavalcanti-Proença C, Kumari M, Qi L, Timpson NJ, Gieger C, Zabena C, Rocheleau G,Ingelsson E, An P, O'Connell J, Luan J, Elliott A, McCarroll SA, Payne F, Roccasecca RM, Pattou F, Sethupathy P, Ardlie K, Ariyurek Y,Balkau B, Barter P, Beilby JP, Ben-Shlomo Y, Benediktsson R, Bennett AJ, Bergmann S, Bochud M, Boerwinkle E, Bonnefond A,Bonnycastle LL, Borch-Johnsen K, Böttcher Y, Brunner E, Bumpstead SJ, Charpentier G, Chen YD, Chines P, Clarke R, Coin LJ, CooperMN, Cornelis M, Crawford G, Crisponi L, Day IN, de Geus EJ, Delplanque J, Dina C, Erdos MR, Fedson AC, Fischer-Rosinsky A,Forouhi NG, Fox CS, Frants R, Franzosi MG, Galan P, Goodarzi MO, Graessler J, Groves CJ, Grundy S, Gwilliam R, Gyllensten U,Hadjadj S, Hallmans G, Hammond N, Han X, Hartikainen AL, Hassanali N, Hayward C, Heath SC, Hercberg S, Herder C, Hicks AA,Hillman DR, Hingorani AD, Hofman A, Hui J, Hung J, Isomaa B, Johnson PR, Jørgensen T, Jula A, Kaakinen M, Kaprio J, KesaniemiYA, Kivimaki M, Knight B, Koskinen S, Kovacs P, Kyvik KO, Lathrop GM, Lawlor DA, Le Bacquer O, Lecoeur C, Li Y, Lyssenko V,Mahley R, Mangino M, Manning AK, Martínez-Larrad MT, McAteer JB, McCulloch LJ, McPherson R, Meisinger C, Melzer D, Meyre D,Mitchell BD, Morken MA, Mukherjee S, Naitza S, Narisu N, Neville MJ, Oostra BA, Orrù M, Pakyz R, Palmer CN, Paolisso G, Pattaro C,Pearson D, Peden JF, Pedersen NL, Perola M, Pfeiffer AF, Pichler I, Polasek O, Posthuma D, Potter SC, Pouta A, Province MA, PsatyBM, Rathmann W, Rayner NW, Rice K, Ripatti S, Rivadeneira F, Roden M, Rolandsson O, Sandbaek A, Sandhu M, Sanna S, Sayer AA,Scheet P, Scott LJ, Seedorf U, Sharp SJ, Shields B, Sigurethsson G, Sijbrands EJ, Silveira A, Simpson L, Singleton A, Smith NL, Sovio U,Swift A, Syddall H, Syvänen AC, Tanaka T, Thorand B, Tichet J, Tönjes A, Tuomi T, Uitterlinden AG, van Dijk KW, van Hoek M,Varma D, Visvikis-Siest S, Vitart V, Vogelzangs N, Waeber G, Wagner PJ, Walley A, Walters GB, Ward KL, Watkins H, Weedon MN,Wild SH, Willemsen G, Witteman JC, Yarnell JW, Zeggini E, Zelenika D, Zethelius B, Zhai G, Zhao JH, Zillikens MC; DIAGRAMConsortium; GIANT Consortium; Global BPgen Consortium, Borecki IB, Loos RJ, Meneton P, Magnusson PK, Nathan DM, WilliamsGH, Hattersley AT, Silander K, Salomaa V, Smith GD, Bornstein SR, Schwarz P, Spranger J, Karpe F, Shuldiner AR, Cooper C,Dedoussis GV, Serrano-Ríos M, Morris AD, Lind L, Palmer LJ, Hu FB, Franks PW, Ebrahim S, Marmot M, Kao WH, Pankow JS,Sampson MJ, Kuusisto J, Laakso M, Hansen T, Pedersen O, Pramstaller PP, Wichmann HE, Illig T, Rudan I, Wright AF, Stumvoll M,Campbell H, Wilson JF; Anders Hamsten on behalf of Procardis Consortium; MAGIC investigators, Bergman RN, Buchanan TA, CollinsFS, Mohlke KL, Tuomilehto J, Valle TT, Altshuler D, Rotter JI, Siscovick DS, Penninx BW, Boomsma DI, Deloukas P, Spector TD,Frayling TM, Ferrucci L, Kong A, Thorsteinsdottir U, Stefansson K, van Duijn CM, Aulchenko YS, Cao A, Scuteri A, Schlessinger D,Uda M, Ruokonen A, Jarvelin MR, Waterworth DM, Vollenweider P, Peltonen L, Mooser V, Abecasis GR, Wareham NJ, Sladek R,Froguel P, Watanabe RM, Meigs JB, Groop L, Boehnke M, McCarthy MI, Florez JC, Barroso I. New genetic loci implicated in fasting glucose homeostasis and their impact on type 2 diabetes risk. Nat Genet. 2010;42(2):105-16. Epub 2010 Jan 17. PubMed
Saxena R, Hivert MF, Langenberg C, Tanaka T, Pankow JS, Vollenweider P, Lyssenko V, Bouatia-Naji N, Dupuis J, Jackson AU, KaoWH, Li M, Glazer NL, Manning AK, Luan J, Stringham HM, Prokopenko I, Johnson T, Grarup N, Boesgaard TW, Lecoeur C, Shrader P,O'Connell J, Ingelsson E, Couper DJ, Rice K, Song K, Andreasen CH, Dina C, Köttgen A, Le Bacquer O, Pattou F, Taneera J,Steinthorsdottir V, Rybin D, Ardlie K, Sampson M, Qi L, van Hoek M, Weedon MN, Aulchenko YS, Voight BF, Grallert H, Balkau B,Bergman RN, Bielinski SJ, Bonnefond A, Bonnycastle LL, Borch-Johnsen K, Böttcher Y, Brunner E, Buchanan TA, Bumpstead SJ,Cavalcanti-Proença C, Charpentier G, Chen YD, Chines PS, Collins FS, Cornelis M, J Crawford G, Delplanque J, Doney A, Egan JM,Erdos MR, Firmann M, Forouhi NG, Fox CS, Goodarzi MO, Graessler J, Hingorani A, Isomaa B, Jørgensen T, Kivimaki M, Kovacs P,Krohn K, Kumari M, Lauritzen T, Lévy-Marchal C, Mayor V, McAteer JB, Meyre D, Mitchell BD, Mohlke KL, Morken MA, Narisu N,Palmer CN, Pakyz R, Pascoe L, Payne F, Pearson D, Rathmann W, Sandbaek A, Sayer AA, Scott LJ, Sharp SJ, Sijbrands E, Singleton A,Siscovick DS, Smith NL, Sparsø T, Swift AJ, Syddall H, Thorleifsson G, Tönjes A, Tuomi T, Tuomilehto J, Valle TT, Waeber G, WalleyA, Waterworth DM, Zeggini E, Zhao JH; GIANT consortium; MAGIC investigators, Illig T, Wichmann HE, Wilson JF, van Duijn C, HuFB, Morris AD, Frayling TM, Hattersley AT, Thorsteinsdottir U, Stefansson K, Nilsson P, Syvänen AC, Shuldiner AR, Walker M,Bornstein SR, Schwarz P, Williams GH, Nathan DM, Kuusisto J, Laakso M, Cooper C, Marmot M, Ferrucci L, Mooser V, Stumvoll M,Loos RJ, Altshuler D, Psaty BM, Rotter JI, Boerwinkle E, Hansen T, Pedersen O, Florez JC, McCarthy MI, Boehnke M, Barroso I, SladekR, Froguel P, Meigs JB, Groop L, Wareham NJ, Watanabe RM. Genetic variation in GIPR influences the glucose and insulin responses to an oral glucose challenge. Nat Genet. 2010;42(2):142-8. Epub 2010 Jan 17. PubMed
Delaney JA, Oddson BE, Kramer H, Shea S, Psaty BM, McClelland RL. Baseline depressive symptoms are not associated with clinically important levels of incident hypertension during two years of follow-up: the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. Hypertension. 2010;55(2):408-14. Epub 2010 Jan 11. PubMed
Boger-Megiddo I, Heckbert SR, Weiss NS, McKnight B, Furberg CD, Wiggins KL, Delaney JA, Siscovick DS, Larson EB, Lemaitre RN, Smith NL, Rice KM, Glazer NL, Psaty BM. Myocardial infarction and stroke associated with diuretic based two drug antihypertensive regimens: population based case-control study. BMJ. 2010;340:c103. doi: 10.1136/bmj.c103. PubMed
Sascha Dublin, MD, PhDSenior Investigator |
Beverly B. Green, MD, MPHSenior Investigator |
Laura Harrington, PhD, MPHAssistant Investigator |
Ellen O'Meara, PhDPrincipal Collaborative Scientist |
Nicole M. Gatto, PhD, MPHPrincipal Collaborative Scientist |
Meagan C. Brown, PhD, MPHAssistant Investigator |
James Floyd, MD, MS
Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology
University of Washington
Susan Heckbert, MD, PhD
University of Washington (UW) Department of Epidemiology; UW Cardiovascular Health Research Unit
Nicholas L. Smith, PhD, MPH
UW Professor, Epidemiology, Cardiovascular Health Research Unit
Director, Seattle Epidemiology and Information Resource Center, VA Puget Sound Health Care System