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):
de Vries PS, Brown MR, Bentley AR, Sung YJ, Winkler TW, Ntalla I, Schwander K, Kraja AT, Guo X, Franceschini N, Cheng CY, Sim X, Vojinovic D, Huffman JE, Musani SK, Li C, Feitosa MF, Richard MA, Noordam R, Aschard H, Bartz TM, Bielak LF, Deng X, Dorajoo R, Lohman KK, Manning AK, Rankinen T, Smith AV, Tajuddin SM, Evangelou E, Graff M, Alver M, Boissel M, Chai JF, Chen X, Divers J, Gandin I, Gao C, Goel A, Hagemeijer Y, Harris SE, Hartwig FP, He M, Horimoto ARVR, Hsu FC, Jackson AU, Kasturiratne A, Komulainen P, Kühnel B, Laguzzi F, Lee JH, Luan J, Lyytikäinen LP, Matoba N, Nolte IM, Pietzner M, Riaz M, Said MA, Scott RA, Sofer T, Stancáková A, Takeuchi F, Tayo BO, van der Most PJ, Varga TV, Wang Y, Ware EB, Wen W, Yanek LR, Zhang W, Zhao JH, Afaq S, Amin N, Amini M, Arking DE, Aung T, Ballantyne C, Boerwinkle E, Broeckel U, Campbell A, Canouil M, Charumathi S, Chen YI, Connell JM, de Faire U, de Las Fuentes L, de Mutsert R, de Silva HJ, Ding J, Dominiczak AF, Duan Q, Eaton CB, Eppinga RN, Faul JD, Fisher V, Forrester T, Franco OH, Friedlander Y, Ghanbari M, Giulianini F, Grabe HJ, Grove ML, Gu CC, Harris TB, Heikkinen S, Heng CK, Hirata M, Hixson JE, Howard BV, Ikram MA, InterAct Consortium, Jacobs DR, Johnson C, Jonas JB, Kammerer CM, Katsuya T, Khor CC, Kilpeläinen TO, Koh WP, Koistinen HA, Kolcic I, Kooperberg C, Krieger JE, Kritchevsky SB, Kubo M, Kuusisto J, Lakka TA, Langefeld CD, Langenberg C, Launer LJ, Lehne B, Lemaitre RN, Li Y, Liang J, Liu J, Liu K, Loh M, Louie T, Mägi R, Manichaikul AW, McKenzie CA, Meitinger T, Metspalu A, Milaneschi Y, Milani L, Mohlke KL, Mosley TH, Mukamal KJ, Nalls MA, Nauck M, Nelson CP, Sotoodehnia N, O'Connell JR, Palmer ND, Pazoki R, Pedersen NL, Peters A, Peyser PA, Polasek O, Poulter N, Raffel LJ, Raitakari OT, Reiner AP, Rice TK, Rich SS, Robino A, Robinson JG, Rose LM, Rudan I, Schmidt CO, Schreiner PJ, Scott WR, Sever P, Shi Y, Sidney S, Sims M, Smith BH, Smith JA, Snieder H, Starr JM, Strauch K, Tan N, Taylor KD, Teo YY, Tham YC, Uitterlinden AG, van Heemst D, Vuckovic D, Waldenberger M, Wang L, Wang Y, Wang Z, Wei WB, Williams C, Wilson G, Wojczynski MK, Yao J, Yu B, Yu C, Yuan JM, Zhao W, Zonderman AB, Becker DM, Boehnke M, Bowden DW, Chambers JC, Deary IJ, Esko T, Farrall M, Franks PW, Freedman BI, Froguel P, Gasparini P, Gieger C, Horta BL, Kamatani Y, Kato N, Kooner JS, Laakso M, Leander K, Lehtimäki T, Lifelines Cohort, Groningen, The Netherlands (Lifelines Cohort Study), Magnusson PKE, Penninx B, Pereira AC, Rauramaa R, Samani NJ, Scott J, Shu XO, van der Harst P, Wagenknecht LE, Wang YX, Wareham NJ, Watkins H, Weir DR, Wickremasinghe AR, Zheng W, Elliott P, North KE, Bouchard C, Evans MK, Gudnason V, Liu CT, Liu Y, Psaty BM, Ridker PM, van Dam RM, Kardia SLR, Zhu X, Rotimi CN, Mook-Kanamori DO, Fornage M, Kelly TN, Fox ER, Hayward C, van Duijn CM, Tai ES, Wong TY, Liu J, Rotter JI, Gauderman WJ, Province MA, Munroe PB, Rice K, Chasman DI, Cupples LA, Rao DC, Morrison AC Multi-Ancestry Genome-Wide Association Study of Lipid Levels Incorporating Gene-Alcohol Interactions 2019 Jun;188(6):1033-1054. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwz005. PubMed
Marklund M, Wu JHY, Imamura F, Del Gobbo LC, Fretts A, de Goede J, Shi P, Tintle N, Wennberg M, Aslibekyan S, Chen TA, de Oliveira Otto MC, Hirakawa Y, Eriksen HH, Kröger J, Laguzzi F, Lankinen M, Murphy RA, Prem K, Samieri C, Virtanen J, Wood AC, Wong K, Yang WS, Zhou X, Baylin A, Boer JMA, Brouwer IA, Campos H, Chaves PHM, Chien KL, de Faire U, Djoussé L, Eiriksdottir G, El-Abbadi N, Forouhi NG, Michael Gaziano J, Geleijnse JM, Gigante B, Giles G, Guallar E, Gudnason V, Harris T, Harris WS, Helmer C, Hellenius ML, Hodge A, Hu FB, Jacques PF, Jansson JH, Kalsbeek A, Khaw KT, Koh WP, Laakso M, Leander K, Lin HJ, Lind L, Luben R, Luo J, McKnight B, Mursu J, Ninomiya T, Overvad K, Psaty BM, Rimm E, Schulze MB, Siscovick D, Skjelbo Nielsen M, Smith AV, Steffen BT, Steffen L, Sun Q, Sundström J, Tsai MY, Tunstall-Pedoe H, Uusitupa MIJ, van Dam RM, Veenstra J, Monique Verschuren WM, Wareham N, Willett W, Woodward M, Yuan JM, Micha R, Lemaitre RN, Mozaffarian D, Risérus U, Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) Fatty Acids and Outcomes Research Consortium (FORCE) Biomarkers of Dietary Omega-6 Fatty Acids and Incident Cardiovascular Disease and Mortality: An Individual-Level Pooled Analysis of 30 Cohort Studies 2019 May 21;139(21):2422-2436. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.118.038908. PubMed
Habibi M, Zareian M, Ambale Venkatesh B, Samiei S, Imai M, Wu C, Launer LJ, Shea S, Gottesman RF, Heckbert SR, Bluemke DA, Lima JAC. Left atrial mechanical function and incident ischemic cerebrovascular events independent of AF: insights from the MESA study. JACC Cardiovasc Imaging. 2019 Apr 17. pii: S1936-878X(19)30273-6. doi: 10.1016/j.jcmg.2019.02.021. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Whitman IR, Vittinghoff E, DeFilippi CR, Gottdiener JS, Alonso A, Psaty BM, Heckbert SR, Hoogeveen RC, Arking DE, Selvin E, Chen LY, Dewland TA, Marcus GM NT -pro BNP as a Mediator of the Racial Difference in Incident Atrial Fibrillation and Heart Failure 2019 Apr 2;8(7):e010868. doi: 10.1161/JAHA.118.010868. PubMed
Bentley AR, Sung YJ, Brown MR, Winkler TW, Kraja AT, Ntalla I, Schwander K, Chasman DI, Lim E, Deng X, Guo X, Liu J, Lu Y, Cheng CY, Sim X, Vojinovic D, Huffman JE, Musani SK, Li C, Feitosa MF, Richard MA, Noordam R, Baker J, Chen G, Aschard H, Bartz TM, Ding J, Dorajoo R, Manning AK, Rankinen T, Smith AV, Tajuddin SM, Zhao W, Graff M, Alver M, Boissel M, Chai JF, Chen X, Divers J, Evangelou E, Gao C, Goel A, Hagemeijer Y, Harris SE, Hartwig FP, He M, Horimoto ARVR, Hsu FC, Hung YJ, Jackson AU, Kasturiratne A, Komulainen P, Kühnel B, Leander K, Lin KH, Luan J, Lyytikäinen LP, Matoba N, Nolte IM, Pietzner M, Prins B, Riaz M, Robino A, Said MA, Schupf N, Scott RA, Sofer T, Stancáková A, Takeuchi F, Tayo BO, van der Most PJ, Varga TV, Wang TD, Wang Y, Ware EB, Wen W, Xiang YB, Yanek LR, Zhang W, Zhao JH, Adeyemo A, Afaq S, Amin N, Amini M, Arking DE, Arzumanyan Z, Aung T, Ballantyne C, Barr RG, Bielak LF, Boerwinkle E, Bottinger EP, Broeckel U, Brown M, Cade BE, Campbell A, Canouil M, Charumathi S, Chen YI, Christensen K, COGENT-Kidney Consortium, Concas MP, Connell JM, de Las Fuentes L, de Silva HJ, de Vries PS, Doumatey A, Duan Q, Eaton CB, Eppinga RN, Faul JD, Floyd JS, Forouhi NG, Forrester T, Friedlander Y, Gandin I, Gao H, Ghanbari M, Gharib SA, Gigante B, Giulianini F, Grabe HJ, Gu CC, Harris TB, Heikkinen S, Heng CK, Hirata M, Hixson JE, Ikram MA, EPIC-InterAct Consortium, Jia Y, Joehanes R, Johnson C, Jonas JB, Justice AE, Katsuya T, Khor CC, Kilpeläinen TO, Koh WP, Kolcic I, Kooperberg C, Krieger JE, Kritchevsky SB, Kubo M, Kuusisto J, Lakka TA, Langefeld CD, Langenberg C, Launer LJ, Lehne B, Lewis CE, Li Y, Liang J, Lin S, Liu CT, Liu J, Liu K, Loh M, Lohman KK, Louie T, Luzzi A, Mägi R, Mahajan A, Manichaikul AW, McKenzie CA, Meitinger T, Metspalu A, Milaneschi Y, Milani L, Mohlke KL, Momozawa Y, Morris AP, Murray AD, Nalls MA, Nauck M, Nelson CP, North KE, O'Connell JR, Palmer ND, Papanicolau GJ, Pedersen NL, Peters A, Peyser PA, Polasek O, Poulter N, Raitakari OT, Reiner AP, Renström F, Rice TK, Rich SS, Robinson JG, Rose LM, Rosendaal FR, Rudan I, Schmidt CO, Schreiner PJ, Scott WR, Sever P, Shi Y, Sidney S, Sims M, Smith JA, Snieder H, Starr JM, Strauch K, Stringham HM, Tan NYQ, Tang H, Taylor KD, Teo YY, Tham YC, Tiemeier H, Turner ST, Uitterlinden AG, Understanding Society Scientific Group, van Heemst D, Waldenberger M, Wang H, Wang L, Wang L, Wei WB, Williams CA, Wilson G, Wojczynski MK, Yao J, Young K, Yu C, Yuan JM, Zhou J, Zonderman AB, Becker DM, Boehnke M, Bowden DW, Chambers JC, Cooper RS, de Faire U, Deary IJ, Elliott P, Esko T, Farrall M, Franks PW, Freedman BI, Froguel P, Gasparini P, Gieger C, Horta BL, Juang JJ, Kamatani Y, Kammerer CM, Kato N, Kooner JS, Laakso M, Laurie CC, Lee IT, Lehtimäki T, Lifelines Cohort, Magnusson PKE, Oldehinkel AJ, Penninx BWJH, Pereira AC, Rauramaa R, Redline S, Samani NJ, Scott J, Shu XO, van der Harst P, Wagenknecht LE, Wang JS, Wang YX, Wareham NJ, Watkins H, Weir DR, Wickremasinghe AR, Wu T, Zeggini E, Zheng W, Bouchard C, Evans MK, Gudnason V, Kardia SLR, Liu Y, Psaty BM, Ridker PM, van Dam RM, Mook-Kanamori DO, Fornage M, Province MA, Kelly TN, Fox ER, Hayward C, van Duijn CM, Tai ES, Wong TY, Loos RJF, Franceschini N, Rotter JI, Zhu X, Bierut LJ, Gauderman WJ, Rice K, Munroe PB, Morrison AC, Rao DC, Rotimi CN, Cupples LA Multi-ancestry genome-wide gene-smoking interaction study of 387,272 individuals identifies new loci associated with serum lipids 2019 Apr;51(4):636-648. doi: 10.1038/s41588-019-0378-y. Epub 2019-03-29. PubMed
Meagan C. Brown, PhD, MPHAssistant Investigator |
Sascha Dublin, MD, PhDSenior Investigator |
Nicole M. Gatto, PhD, MPHPrincipal Collaborative Scientist |
Beverly B. Green, MD, MPHSenior Investigator |
Laura Harrington, PhD, MPHAssociate 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