Vaccines & Infectious Diseases

“To combat infectious diseases, such as COVID-19 and influenza, we are comprehensively evaluating the safety and effectiveness of vaccines in current use, conducting clinical trials of promising new vaccines, and studying the patterns of how these illnesses spread.”

Lisa A. Jackson, MD, MPH
Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute Senior Investigator

Research overview

Vaccines save lives by protecting people against infectious diseases — polio, influenza, and pneumonia to name a few. Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI) is working to protect communities through research to continually improve the safety and effectiveness of vaccines for infectious diseases of public health importance.

Central to this work is testing new vaccines against emerging diseases — such as COVID-19. In March 2020, KPWHRI gave the world’s first-ever injection of an investigational vaccine for COVID-19 in a phase 1 clinical trial led by Senior Investigator Lisa A. Jackson, MD, MPH. We continue to be at the forefront of efforts to understand and combat COVID-19. To learn more, see COVID-19 research at KPWHRI.

Successes over 3 decades of KPWHRI vaccine research include:

  • A large study of flu vaccination in seniors that found that the vaccine might not protect them from pneumonia as well as hoped
  • A “real-time” evaluation of the safety of the shingles vaccine in older adults across the Vaccine Safety Datalink network
  • Clinical trials of investigational flu vaccines, including ones against pandemic flu and bird flu, in adults
  • Studies to better understand and address vaccine hesitancy among families who delay or refuse to vaccinate their children because of safety fears, leading to outbreaks of potentially deadly illnesses such as whooping cough and measles
  • The biggest retrospective study of pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine effectiveness in adults, and the largest clinical trial on the safety of this vaccine
  • The pivotal clinical trials of 7-valent, 13-valent, and 20-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccines in older adults 

Our current research projects on vaccines and infectious diseases include:

  • Clinical trials conducted by the Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Unit, funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and part of the Infectious Disease Clinical Research Consortium (IDCRC). Led by Dr. Lisa Jackson, the unit launched the world’s first trial of an experimental COVID-19 vaccine — the now-approved NIH-Moderna vaccine — and continues to test the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines and boosters. To learn more, see COVID-19 research at KPWHRI.
  • Studies of how infectious diseases such as COVID-19 and influenza spread through communities
  • Research to explore what types of communication and community engagement strategies are most effective at improving COVID-19 vaccine uptake among workers in long-term care facilities. Clarissa Hsu, PhD, is leading this research, which is being funded by a $4.75 million award from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI).
  • Ongoing monitoring of the effectiveness of the influenza and COVID-19 vaccines by the U.S. Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness Network, led by Karen J. Wernli, PhD, KPWHRI senior investigator, and funded by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
  • Studies of immunization safety through the Vaccine Safety Datalink project, supported by the CDC and connecting information in large databases maintained by 8 American health plans including Kaiser Permanente Washington
  • Methodological research, led by Jennifer C Nelson, PhD, and Andrea J. Cook, PhD, to improve the statistical design and analysis approaches used to address vaccine safety questions in electronic health record data settings

Recent publications on Vaccines & Infectious Disease

Chavtur C, Staubus WJ, Ho M, Hergott DEB, Seilie AM, Healy S, Duffy P, Jackson L, Talley A, Kappe SHI, Hoffman SL, Richie TL, Kublin JG, Chang M, Murphy SC. Plasmodium 18S Ribosomal RNA Biomarker Clearance After Food and Drug Administration-Approved Antimalarial Treatment in Controlled Human Malaria Infection Trials.  Open Forum Infect Dis. 2023 Apr 13;10(5):ofad202. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofad202. eCollection 2023.  PubMed

Tartof SY, Xie F, Yadav R, Wernli KJ, Martin ET, Belongia EA, Gaglani M, Zimmerman RK, Talbot HK, Thornburg N, Flannery B; US Flu VE Network Investigators. Prior SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness against outpatient illness during widespread circulation of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, US Flu VE network. Influenza Other Respir Viruses. 2023 May;17(5):e13143. doi: 10.1111/irv.13143. PubMed

Benkeser D, Montefiori DC, McDermott AB, Fong Y, Janes HE, Deng W, Zhou H, Houchens CR, Martins K, Jayashankar L, Castellino F, Flach B, Lin BC, O'Connell S, McDanal C, Eaton A, Sarzotti-Kelsoe M, Lu Y, Yu C, Borate B, van der Laan LWP, Hejazi NS, Kenny A, Carone M, Williamson BD, Garver J, Altonen E, Rudge T, Huynh C, Miller J, El Sahly HM, Baden LR, Frey S, Malkin E, Spector SA, Andrasik MP, Kublin JG, Corey L, Neuzil KM, Carpp LN, Pajon R, Follmann D, Donis RO, Koup RA, Gilbert PB; Immune Assays; Moderna Inc.; Coronavirus Vaccine Prevention Network (CoVPN)/Coronavirus Efficacy (COVE); United States Government (USG)/CoVPN Biostatistics Teams. Comparing antibody assays as correlates of protection against COVID-19 in the COVE mRNA-1273 vaccine efficacy trial. Sci Transl Med. 2023 Apr 19;15(692):eade9078. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.ade9078. Epub 2023 Apr 19. PubMed

Branche AR, Rouphael NG, Losada C, Baden LR, Anderson EJ, Luetkemeyer AF, Diemert DJ, Winokur PL, Presti RM, Kottkamp AC, Falsey AR, Frey SE, Rupp R, Bäcker M, Novak RM, Walter EB, Jackson LA, Little SJ, Immergluck LC, Mahgoub SM, Whitaker JA, Babu TM, Goepfert PA, Fusco DN, Atmar RL, Posavad CM, Netzl A, Smith DJ, Telu K, Mu J, Makowski M, Makhene MK, Crandon S, Montefiori DC, Roberts PC, Beigel JH. Immunogenicity of the BA.1 and BA.4/BA.5 SARS-CoV-2 bivalent boosts: Preliminary results from the COVAIL randomized clinical trial. Clin Infect Dis. 2023 Aug 22;77(4):560-564. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciad209. PubMed

Grabert BK, McRee AL, Henrikson NB, Heisler-MacKinnon J, Blasi PR, Norris CM, Nguyen MB, Dunn J, McKeithen MC, Gilkey MB. Feasibility of using an app-based coaching intervention to improve provider communication about HPV vaccination. Transl Behav Med. 2023 Aug 11;13(8):581-588. doi: 10.1093/tbm/ibad002. PubMed

Researchers in Vaccines & Infectious Disease

Lisa A. Jackson, MD, MPH

Senior Investigator
Lisa.A.Jackson@kp.org

Curriculum vitae (CV)

Jennifer C. Nelson, PhD

Director, Biostatistics; Senior Investigator
206-287-2004
Jen.Nelson@kp.org

Curriculum vitae (CV)

Andrea J. Cook, PhD

Senior Biostatistics Investigator
206-287-4257
Andrea.J.Cook@kp.org

Curriculum vitae (CV)

Sascha Dublin, MD, PhD

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

Curriculum vitae (CV)

Onchee Yu, MS

Principal Collaborative Biostatistician
206-287-2389
Onchee.Yu@kp.org

Curriculum vitae (CV)

Robert D. Wellman, MS

Principal Collaborative Biostatistician
206-287-2557
Robert.D.Wellman@kp.org

Curriculum vitae (CV)

Clarissa Hsu, PhD

Associate Investigator
206-287-4276
Clarissa.W.Hsu@kp.org

Curriculum vitae (CV)

Brian D. Williamson, PhD

Assistant Biostatistics Investigator
206-287-2024
Brian.D.Williamson@kp.org

Curriculum vitae (CV)

Noorie Hyun, PhD

Associate Biostatistics Investigator
Noorie.Hyun@kp.org

Curriculum vitae (CV)

Pamela A. Shaw, PhD, MS

Senior Biostatistics Investigator
Pamela.A.Shaw@kp.org

Curriculum vitae (CV)

Annie Piccorelli, PhD

Senior Collaborative Biostatistician
Annie.V.Piccorelli@kp.org

Curriculum vitae (CV)

 

Affiliate researchers

Doug Opel, MD, MPH
University of Washington (UW) Department of Bioethics and Humanities; UW Department of Pediatrics; UW Medical Center

Adjunct researchers

John Dunn, MD, MPH
Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Washington

Elizabeth Lin, MD, MPH
Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Washington Family Practice;
Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute