Grants Awarded
MARCH 2026
Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute recently received word of 8 new awards.
A Phase 3 Placebo-Controlled, Randomized, Double-Blinded Study of a Clostridioides Difficile Vaccine in Adults 65 Years of Age and Older
A 1-year, $561,356 grant from Pfizer. Major goals: The major goal of this trial is to evaluate the efficacy, safety, tolerability, and lot consistency of a Clostridioides difficile vaccine in adults 65 years of age and older. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Lisa Jackson.
Administrative Burden in Cancer Treatment: NCI / Academy Health Visiting Scholars Program
A 1-year, $59,860 grant from the National Cancer Institute. Major goals: This fellowship program offers mid-career researchers a year-long, funded, part-time opportunity to generate and contribute evidence that addresses cancer care challenges across the continuum of care by conducting research and participating in related activities at the National Cancer Institute in Rockville, Maryland. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Nora Henrikson.
AIM-AHEAD Coordinating Center — All Four Cores
A 1-year, $10,800 grant from the National Institutes of Health. Major goals: The research project will be led by Dr. Marin Kautz, an AIM-AHEAD fellow, with mentorship from Dr. Yates Coley. The project aims to use electronic health records from OCHIN and MedStar to identify risk factors for treatment disengagement after suicide-related encounters in the emergency department and create a risk score to predict treatment disengagement. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Yates Coley.
Impact of Enhanced Care Management and Community Supports on Priority Populations — Phase 1b
A 3-year, $382,239 grant from Kaiser Permanente. Major goals: The overarching goal of the Phase 1b evaluation plan is to conduct a health system partners-driven impact evaluation of Enhanced Care Management (ECM) alone and in combination with Community Supports (CS) and other related services for the ECM v1.0 early implementation and ECM v1.5 implementation (2026) periods on short- and medium-term patient-reported outcomes, clinical quality, and utilization metrics in alignment with the Social Care Logic Model. Insights and findings from this evaluation will: (1) Guide refinements to ECM implementation and targeting of EMC-CS within Kaiser Permanente and beyond, (2) inform Medi-Cal policy and strategy, (3) drive continuous quality improvement, and (4) solidify Kaiser Permanente’s position as a leader in advancing social health innovation and thought leadership. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Meagan Brown.
Patient-Level Determinants of Starting Hepatitis B Virus Treatment
A 1-year, $170,433 grant from Gilead Sciences, Inc. Major goals: The major goal of this project is to examine the perspectives of people with hepatitis B on initiating and continuing treatment. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Nora Henrikson.
Putting Phenotypes and Polygenics into Practice for Diabetes Care (4PDC)
A 5-year, $537,557 grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Major goals: The overarching aim of this project is to utilize the Kaiser Permanente Research Bank to generate a pragmatic Type 2 diabetes (T2D) phenotyping strategy using widely available clinical variables, assess its performance to predict T2D complications, and develop and evaluate polygenic risk scores to predict residual T2D complications above and beyond using phenotypes alone. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is James Ralston.
Standardizing Care for Firearm Injuries: A Roadmap for Treatment and Recovery
A 2-year, $49,976 grant from Global Impact. Major goals: This project will support literature review and Delphi consensus to develop a standard of care for firearm injury recovery. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Julie Angerhofer.
Understanding Trajectories of Cannabis Use Frequency Across the Lifespan Based on Routine Screening in a Large Outpatient Population
A 2-year, $470,979 grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Major goals: This 2-year developmental cohort study will study a large sample of adult outpatients (n ~331,000) to strengthen the epidemiological evidence of adverse health outcomes associated with varying longitudinal patterns of cannabis use, particularly among middle-aged and older adults. The study relies on existing electronic health record data of repeat cannabis screening over 10 years from primary care patients in a state with legalized use. The study will identify and characterize cannabis use trajectory groups among patients in each of 4 age groups (i.e., 18-34, 35-49, 50-64, = 65) and in subgroups based on sex, race, and ethnicity. This research will inform a future R01 that will assess the extent to which different longitudinal cannabis use patterns predict subsequent adverse health outcomes. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Gwen Lapham.
FEBRUARY 2026
Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute recently received word of 4 new awards.
ClinGen Actionability
A 1-year grant from the National Human Genome Research Institute. Major goals: Clinical Genome Resource (ClinGen) is a National Institutes of Health-funded initiative that builds an authoritative, open-access resource defining the clinical relevance of genes and genetic variants. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Nora Henrikson.
Implementing Collaborative Care Across Kaiser Permanente
A 2-year, $52,102 grant from the Garfield Memorial Fund. Major goals: The major goal of this grant is to support mixed-methods evaluation of national implementation of collaborative care programs across Kaiser Permanente regions. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Julie Angerhofer.
Special Olympics International — Washington Health System
A 1-year, $85,000 grant from Special Olympics Inc. Major goals: The major goals of this project are to advance inclusive health care for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities by supporting implementation of hospital system practice improvements, providing non-lobbying technical assistance to inform Medicaid and Apple Health policy strategies, and coordinating Phase 2.2 systems change efforts for the Rosemary Collaboratory in partnership with Special Olympics Washington, Special Olympics International, and the Washington Advocacy and Resource Coalition. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Natasha Arora.
UW Implementation and Evaluation Fellowship in Climate Change and Health
A 2-year, $66,349 grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Major goals: The team will work in partnership with patient advisory groups and local climate experts to adapt an evidence-based Wildfire Smoke Practice Resource for use in primary care. The resource will include instructions for building a low-cost home air filter and reducing smoke exposure. It will also prompt clinicians to discuss and offer Single Maintenance and Reliever Therapy (SMART) to patients with uncontrolled asthma, an inhaler regimen proven to reduce flare-ups. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Meagan Brown.
January 2026
Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute recently received word of 3 new awards.
A Social Needs Network for Evaluation and Translation (SONNET): Addressing the Social, Economic, and Behavioral Needs of Kaiser Permanente Members
A 1-year, $458,000 grant from Kaiser Permanente Community Benefit. Major goals: The SONNET initiative is an inter-regional network of researchers and evaluators interested in understanding the role that social determinants of health play in the health of our members and in assessing the effectiveness of interventions to address social determinants. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Meagan Brown.
Biannual Cancer Care Experiences Survey
A 1-year, $316,009 grant from Kaiser Permanente National Research. Major goals: The 2026 Cancer Care Experiences Survey (CCES) will be a pared-down/slightly revised version of the CCES executed in late 2024-early 2025. The institute’s Survey Research Program will be engaged to orchestrate both rounds of the survey — one in early 2026 and the other in later 2026 — for all 3 participating sites (Kaiser Permanente of Colorado, Kaiser Permanente of Hawaii, and Kaiser Permanente Washington). The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Jessica Chubak.
Quality Improvement Evaluation and Iteration of Population Management using CGMs to Reduce Hypoglycemia in Patients with Diabetes
A 1-year, $446,782 grant from Eli Lilly & Co. Major goals: To support the evaluation and iteration of using continuous glucose monitor (CGM) data to prevent hypoglycemia in population management of patients with diabetes at Kaiser Permanente Washington. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is James Ralston.
Land Acknowledgment
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