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):
Baldwin LM, Tuzzio L, Cole AM, Holden E, Powell JA, Parchman ML. Tailoring implementation strategies for cardiovascular disease risk calculator adoption in primary care clinics. J Am Board Fam Med. 2022 Dec 23 ;35(6):jabfm.2022.210449R11143-1155. doi: 10.3122/jabfm.2022.210449R1. [Epub ahead of print 2022 Dec 2]. PubMed
Margolis KL, Bergdall AR, Crain AL, JaKa MM, Anderson JP, Solberg LI, Sperl-Hillen J, Beran M, Green BB, Haugen P, Norton CK, Kodet AJ, Sharma R, Appana D, Trower NK, Pawloski PA, Rehrauer DJ, Simmons ML, McKinney ZJ, Kottke TE, Ziegenfuss JY, Williams RA, O'Connor PJ. Comparing pharmacist-led telehealth care and clinic-based care for uncontrolled high blood pressure: The hyperlink 3 pragmatic cluster-randomized trial. Hypertension. 2022 Oct 25. doi: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.122.19816. Online ahead of print. PubMed
Thibord F, Klarin D, Brody JA, Chen MH, Levin MG, Chasman DI, Goode EL, Hveem K, Teder-Laving M, Martinez-Perez A, Aïssi D, Daian-Bacq D, Ito K, Natarajan P, Lutsey PL, Nadkarni GN, de Vries PS, Cuellar-Partida G, Wolford BN, Pattee JW, Kooperberg C, Braekkan SK, Li-Gao R, Saut N, Sept C, Germain M, Judy RL, Wiggins KL, Ko D, O'Donnell CJ, Taylor KD, Giulianini F, De Andrade M, Nøst TH, Boland A, Empana JP, Koyama S, Gilliland T, Do R, Huffman JE, Wang X, Zhou W, Manuel Soria J, Carlos Souto J, Pankratz N, Haessler J, Hindberg K, Rosendaal FR, Turman C, Olaso R, Kember RL, Bartz TM, Lynch JA, Heckbert SR, Armasu SM, Brumpton B, Smadja DM, Jouven X, Komuro I, Clapham KR, Loos RJF, Willer CJ, Sabater-Lleal M, Pankow JS, Reiner AP, Morelli VM, Ridker PM, Vlieg AVH, Deleuze JF, Kraft P, Rader DJ; Global Biobank Meta-Analysis Initiative; Estonian Biobank Research Team; 23andMe Research Team; Biobank Japan; CHARGE Hemostasis Working Group, Min Lee K, Psaty BM, Heidi Skogholt A, Emmerich J, Suchon P, Rich SS, Vy HMT, Tang W, Jackson RD, Hansen JB, Morange PE, Kabrhel C, Trégouët DA, Damrauer SM, Johnson AD, Smith NL. Cross-ancestry investigation of venous thromboembolism genomic predictors. Circulation. 2022 Sep 26;101161CIRCULATIONAHA122059675. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.122.059675. Online ahead of print. PubMed
Barasch E, Gottdiener JS, Tressel W, Bartz TM, Buzkova P, Massera D, deFilippi C, Biggs ML, Psaty BM, Kizer JR, Owens D. The association of aortic valve sclerosis, aortic annulus increased reflectivity, and mitral annular calcification with subsequent aortic stenosis in older individuals. Findings from the Cardiovascular Health Study. J Am Soc Echocardiogr. 2022 Sep 9;S0894-7317(22)00452-7. doi: 10.1016/j.echo.2022.08.013. Online ahead of print. PubMed
JaKa M, Bergdall A, Beran MS, Solberg L, Green BB, Andersen J, Kodet A, Norman S, Haugen P, Crain L, Trower N, Sharma R, Rehrauer D, Maeztu C, Margolis K. Reach in a pragmatic hypertension trial: A critical RE-AIM component. Contemp Clin Trials. 2022 Oct;121:106896. doi: 10.1016/j.cct.2022.106896. Epub 2022 Aug 24. 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