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):
French B, Lumley T, Monks SA, Rice KM, Hindorff LA, Reiner AP, Psaty BM Simple estimates of haplotype relative risks in case-control data. Genet Epidemiol. 2006;30(6):485-94. Epub 2006 Jun 5. PubMed
Pearte CA, Furberg CD, O'Meara ES, Psaty BM, Kuller L, Powe NR, Manolio T. Characteristics and baseline clinical predictors of future fatal versus nonfatal coronary heart disease events in older adults: the Cardiovascular Health Study. Circulation. 2006;113(18):2177-85. PubMed
Sotoodehnia N, Siscovick DS, Vatta M, Psaty BM, Tracy RP, Towbin JA, Lemaitre RN, Rea TD, Durda JP, Chang JM, Lumley TS, Kuller LH, Burke GL, Heckbert SR. Beta2-adrenergic receptor genetic variants and risk of sudden cardiac death. Circulation. 2006;113(15):1842-8. PubMed
Nelson JC, Jiang XC, Tabas I, Tall A, Shea S. Plasma sphingomyelin and subclinical atherosclerosis: findings from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. Am J Epidemiol. 2006;163(10):903-12. PubMed
Psaty BM, Weiss NS, Furberg CD. Recent trials in hypertension: compelling science or commercial speech? JAMA. 2006;295(14):1704-6. 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