Cardiovascular Health

“One in four deaths in the United States is attributed to heart disease. Our researchers study how behavior, environment, and genetics affect heart health and how screening and treatment can reduce risk.”

Laura B. Harrington, PhD, MPH
Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute Assistant Investigator

Research overview

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):

  • In 2016 Dr. Green, a senior investigator, launched the BP-CHECK study, which aims to find the easiest, most accurate way to diagnose high blood pressure. With a $2.8 million award from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), the study compares blood pressure readings taken in clinic, at home, and at validated blood pressure kiosks to the 24-hour blood pressure test that is currently considered the gold standard for diagnosing hypertension.
     
  • Dr. Dublin, a senior investigator, explores many different facets of cardiovascular disease in her work, including risk factors for atrial fibrillation, the effect of medications on cardiovascular disease, and the relationship between cardiovascular disease and other conditions, such as dementia. Managing cardiovascular risk factors in pregnancy — such as high blood pressure and diabetes — is a particular interest.
     
  • Dr. Harrington, an assistant investigator, is a cardiovascular epidemiologist whose research aims to improve understanding of modifiable cardiovascular risk factors, particularly among older women. Currently, she is leading a study exploring the relationship between physical activity, sedentary behavior, and the risk of venous thromboembolism (blood clots that form predominantly in the veins of the legs or lungs). In addition to this work, Dr. Harrington conducts research in the areas of recurrent cardiovascular event risk, cardiovascular health in relation to cognitive decline and dementia risk in later life, and pharmacologic exposures in relation to cardiovascular event risk, with a particular focus on risk factors for venous thromboembolism.
     
  • Senior Investigator Michael L. Parchman, MD, MPH, focuses on implementing evidence-based cardiovascular disease care into primary care settings. He led the 4-year Healthy Hearts Northwest trial, an EvidenceNOW initiative that helped smaller primary care practices in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho adopt evidence-based approaches to improving cardiovascular care outcomes. The trial continues to produce findings of importance.
     
  • The work of Ellen O'Meara, PhD, a senior research associate, centers on the epidemiology of common and important health conditions in the United States, including cardiovascular disease. Her collaborative research has included studies exploring the risk factors and outcomes of heart disease and stroke. Recent work includes research on quality improvement aimed at controlling hypertension at small primary care practices.

Recent publications on Cardiovascular Health

Davies G, Lam M, Harris SE, Trampush JW, Luciano M, Hill WD, Hagenaars SP, Ritchie SJ, Marioni RE, Fawns-Ritchie C, Liewald DCM, Okely JA, Ahola-Olli AV, Barnes CLK, Bertram L, Bis JC, Burdick KE, Christoforou A, DeRosse P, Djurovic S, Espeseth T, Giakoumaki S, Giddaluru S, Gustavson DE, Hayward C, Hofer E, Ikram MA, Karlsson R, Knowles E, Lahti J, Leber M, Li S, Mather KA, Melle I, Morris D, Oldmeadow C, Palviainen T, Payton A, Pazoki R, Petrovic K, Reynolds CA, Sargurupremraj M, Scholz M, Smith JA, Smith AV, Terzikhan N, Thalamuthu A, Trompet S, van der Lee SJ, Ware EB, Windham BG, Wright MJ, Yang J, Yu J, Ames D, Amin N, Amouyel P, Andreassen OA, Armstrong NJ, Assareh AA, Attia JR, Attix D, Avramopoulos D, Bennett DA, Böhmer AC, Boyle PA, Brodaty H, Campbell H, Cannon TD, Cirulli ET, Congdon E, Conley ED, Corley J, Cox SR, Dale AM, Dehghan A, Dick D, Dickinson D, Eriksson JG, Evangelou E, Faul JD, Ford I, Freimer NA, Gao H, Giegling I, Gillespie NA, Gordon SD, Gottesman RF, Griswold ME, Gudnason V, Harris TB, Hartmann AM, Hatzimanolis A, Heiss G, Holliday EG, Joshi PK, Kähönen M, Kardia SLR, Karlsson I, Kleineidam L, Knopman DS, Kochan NA, Konte B, Kwok JB, Le Hellard S, Lee T, Lehtimäki T, Li SC, Liu T, Koini M, London E, Longstreth WT Jr, Lopez OL, Loukola A, Luck T, Lundervold AJ, Lundquist A, Lyytikäinen LP, Martin NG, Montgomery GW, Murray AD, Need AC, Noordam R, Nyberg L, Ollier W, Papenberg G, Pattie A, Polasek O, Poldrack RA, Psaty BM, Reppermund S, Riedel-Heller SG, Rose RJ, Rotter JI, Roussos P, Rovio SP, Saba Y, Sabb FW, Sachdev PS, Satizabal CL, Schmid M, Scott RJ, Scult MA, Simino J, Slagboom PE, Smyrnis N, Soumaré A, Stefanis NC, Stott DJ, Straub RE, Sundet K, Taylor AM, Taylor KD, Tzoulaki I, Tzourio C, Uitterlinden A, Vitart V, Voineskos AN, Kaprio J, Wagner M, Wagner H, Weinhold L, Wen KH, Widen E, Yang Q, Zhao W, Adams HHH, Arking DE, Bilder RM, Bitsios P, Boerwinkle E, Chiba-Falek O, Corvin A, De Jager PL, Debette S, Donohoe G, Elliott P, Fitzpatrick AL, Gill M, Glahn DC, Hägg S, Hansell NK, Hariri AR, Ikram MK, Jukema JW, Vuoksimaa E, Keller MC, Kremen WS, Launer L, Lindenberger U, Palotie A, Pedersen NL, Pendleton N, Porteous DJ, Räikkönen K, Raitakari OT, Ramirez A, Reinvang I, Rudan I, Dan Rujescu, Schmidt R, Schmidt H, Schofield PW, Schofield PR, Starr JM, Steen VM, Trollor JN, Turner ST, Van Duijn CM, Villringer A, Weinberger DR, Weir DR, Wilson JF, Malhotra A, McIntosh AM, Gale CR, Seshadri S, Mosley TH Jr, Bressler J, Lencz T, Deary IJ. Study of 300,486 individuals identifies 148 independent genetic loci influencing general cognitive function.  Nat Commun. 2018;9(1):2098. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04362-x.  PubMed

Lin H, van Setten J, Smith AV, Bihlmeyer NA, Warren HR, Brody JA, Radmanesh F, Hall L, Grarup N, Müller-Nurasyid M, Boutin T, Verweij N, Lin HJ, Li-Gao R, van den Berg ME, Marten J, Weiss S, Prins BP, Haessler J, Lyytikäinen LP, Mei H, Harris TB, Launer LJ, Li M, Alonso A, Soliman EZ, Connell JM, Huang PL, Weng LC, Jameson HS, Hucker W, Hanley A, Tucker NR, Chen YI, Bis JC, Rice KM, Sitlani CM, Kors JA, Xie Z, Wen C, Magnani JW, Nelson CP, Kanters JK, Sinner MF, Strauch K, Peters A, Waldenberger M, Meitinger T, Bork-Jensen J, Pedersen O, Linneberg A, Rudan I, de Boer RA, van der Meer P, Yao J, Guo X, Taylor KD, Sotoodehnia N, Rotter JI, Mook-Kanamori DO, Trompet S, Rivadeneira F, Uitterlinden A, Eijgelsheim M, Padmanabhan S, Smith BH, Völzke H, Felix SB, Homuth G, Völker U, Mangino M, Spector TD, Bots ML, Perez M, Kähönen M, Raitakari OT, Gudnason V, Arking DE, Munroe PB, Psaty BM, van Duijn CM, Benjamin EJ, Rosand J, Samani NJ, Hansen T, Kääb S, Polasek O, van der Harst P, Heckbert SR, Jukema JW, Stricker BH, Hayward C, Dörr M, Jamshidi Y, Asselbergs FW, Kooperberg C, Lehtimäki T, Wilson JG, Ellinor PT, Lubitz SA, Isaacs A. Common and rare coding genetic variation underlying the electrocardiographic PR interval. Circ Genom Precis Med. 2018;11(5):e002037. doi: 10.1161/CIRCGEN.117.002037.  PubMed

Macri V, Brody JA, Arking DE, Hucker WJ, Yin X, Lin H, Mills RW, Sinner MF, Lubitz SA, Liu CT, Morrison AC, Alonso A, Li N, Fedorov VV, Janssen PM, Bis JC, Heckbert SR, Dolmatova EV, Lumley T, Sitlani CM, Cupples LA, Pulit SL, Newton-Cheh C, Barnard J, Smith JD, Van Wagoner DR, Chung MK, Vlahakes GJ, O'Donnell CJ, Rotter JI, Margulies KB, Morley MP, Cappola TP, Benjamin EJ, Muzny D, Gibbs RA, Jackson RD, Magnani JW, Herndon CN, Rich SS, Psaty BM, Milan DJ, Boerwinkle E, Mohler PJ, Sotoodehnia N, Ellinor PT. Common coding variants in SCN10A are associated with the Nav1.8 late current and cardiac conduction. Circ Genom Precis Med. 2018;11(5):e001663. doi: 10.1161/CIRCGEN.116.001663.  PubMed

Wei WQ, Li X, Feng Q, Kubo M, Kullo IJ, Peissig PL, Karlson EW, Jarvik GP, Lee MTM, Shang N, Larson EA, Edwards T, Shaffer C, Mosley JD, Maeda S, Horikoshi M, Ritchie M, Williams MS, Larson EB, Crosslin DR, Bland ST, Pacheco JA, Rasmussen-Torvik LJ, Cronkite D, Hripcsak G, Cox NJ, Wilke RA, Stein CM, Rotter JI, Momozawa Y, Roden DM, Krauss RM, Denny JC. LPA variants are associated with residual cardiovascular risk in patients receiving statins. Circulation. 2018 Oct 23;138(17):1839-1849. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.117.031356. PubMed

Emdin CA, Khera AV, Chaffin M, Klarin D, Natarajan P, Aragam K, Haas M, Bick A, Zekavat SM, Nomura A, Ardissino D, Wilson JG, Schunkert H, McPherson R, Watkins H, Elosua R, Bown MJ, Samani NJ, Baber U, Erdmann J, Gupta N, Danesh J, Chasman D, Ridker P, Denny J, Bastarache L, Lichtman JH, D'Onofrio G, Mattera J, Spertus JA, Sheu WH, Taylor KD, Psaty BM, Rich SS, Post W, Rotter JI, Chen YI, Krumholz H, Saleheen D, Gabriel S, Kathiresan S. Analysis of predicted loss-of-function variants in UK Biobank identifies variants protective for disease.  Nat Commun. 2018;9(1):1613. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-03911-8.  PubMed

Researchers in Cardiovascular Health

Sascha Dublin, MD, PhD

Senior Investigator
206-287-2870
Sascha.Dublin@kp.org

Curriculum vitae (CV)

Beverly B. Green, MD, MPH

Senior Investigator
206-287-2997
Bev.B.Green@kp.org

Curriculum vitae (CV)

Laura Harrington, PhD, MPH

Assistant Investigator
206-287-2066
Laura.B.Harrington@kp.org

Curriculum vitae (CV)

Ellen O'Meara, PhD

Principal Collaborative Scientist
206-287-2938
Ellen.S.O'Meara@kp.org

Curriculum vitae (CV)

Nicole M. Gatto, PhD, MPH

Principal Collaborative Scientist
Nicole.M.Gatto@kp.org

Curriculum vitae (CV)

Meagan C. Brown, PhD, MPH

Assistant Investigator
Meagan.C.Brown@kp.org

Curriculum vitae (CV)

 

Affiliate researchers

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