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):
Margolis KL, Crain AL, Green BB, O'Connor PJ, Solberg LI, Beran M, Bergdall AR, Pawloski PA, Ziegenfuss JY, JaKa MM, Appana D, Sharma R, Kodet AJ, Trower NK, Rehrauer DJ, McKinney Z, Norton CK, Haugen P, Anderson JP, Crabtree BF, Norman SK, Sperl-Hillen JM. Comparison of explanatory and pragmatic design choices in a cluster-randomized hypertension trial: effects on enrollment, participant characteristics, and adherence. Trials. 2022 Aug 17;23(1):673. doi: 10.1186/s13063-022-06611-3. PubMed
Green BB, Larson AE, Huguet N, Angier H, Valenzuela S, Marino, M. High blood pressure reduction, health insurance status, and social deprivation index in US community health centers. AJPM Focus. 2022 Dec; 1(2): 100018. Published online 2022 Aug 4. doi: 10.1016/j.focus.2022.100018. PubMed
Lemaitre RN, Jensen PN, Zeigler M, Fretts AM, Umans JG, Howard BV, Sitlani CM, McKnight B, Gharib SA, King IB, Siscovick DS, Psaty BM, Sotoodehnia N, Totah RA. Plasma epoxyeicosatrienoic acids and diabetes-related cardiovascular disease: the cardiovascular health study. EBioMedicine. 2022 Aug 2;83:104189. doi: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2022.104189. Online ahead of print. PubMed
Kottke TE, Anderson JP, Zillhardt JD, Sperl-Hillen JM, O'Connor PJ, Green BB, Williams RA, Averbeck BM, Stiffman MN, Beran M, Rakotz M, Margolis KL. Association of an automated blood pressure measurement quality improvement program with terminal digit preference and recorded mean blood pressure in 11 clinics. JAMA Netw Open. 2022;5(8):e2229098. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.29098. PubMed
Lidstrom SC, Wiggins KL, Harrington LB, McKnight B, Blondon M, Smith NL. Incident thrombus location and predicting risk of recurrent venous thromboembolism. Res Pract Thromb Haemost. 2022 26;6(5):e12762. doi: 10.1002/rth2.12762. eCollection 2022 Jul. 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