december 2020

KPWHRI recently received word of 2 new awards.

Risk-based Breast Cancer Screening and Surveillance in Community Practice -
Admin Supplement for P3:

A 1-year, $100,532 grant from the National Cancer Institute. Major goals: The major goal of this project is to generate evidence for risk-guided surveillance strategies, including imaging modalities and follow-up frequencies, tailored for each woman with primary breast cancer. Through evaluating alternative modeling approaches, we aim to develop a better prediction model to guide clinical decisions. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Diana Buist.

Suicide Prediction and Prevention for People at Risk for Opioid Use Disorder:

A 2-year, $24,096 grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Major goals: The major goal of this project is to evaluate of the integration of a suicide risk calculator with an electronic health record (EHR)-based tool that calculates risk of opioid overdose or Opioid Use Disorder (OUD).  The project will evaluate the impact of the integration of these tools on suicide assessment process measures and patient engagement in mental healthcare. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Julie Richards.


NOVEmber 2020

KPWHRI recently received word of 9 new awards.

Comparative Effectiveness of Breast Cancer Screening and Diagnostic Evaluation by Extent of Breast Density - 3 COVID Supplements:

A total of four 1-year grants, totaling $138,558 from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. Major goals: This proposal rapidly leverages the geographic diversity of the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium (BCSC) to provide actionable information that breast imaging facilities can use to prioritize women for breast imaging and biopsy during different phases of the pandemic, including restoration of services and future COVID-19 surges. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigators are Karen Wernli, Diana Buist, and Ellen O’Meara.

Comparing 2 Approaches to Preventing Severe Hypoglycemia:

A 4-year, $2,330,129 grant from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. Major goals: To test 2 ways of preventing severe hypoglycemia in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is James Ralston.

Incidence and Predictors of Opioid Overdose and Death Among Extended-Release/Long-Acting (ER/LA) Opioid Analgesics Users as Measured by Diagnoses and Death Records—A Retrospective Database Study:

A 1-year, $30,380 grant from Syneos Health. Major goals: To quantify and characterize the determinants of risk for opioid overdose and death (OOD) in long-term users of Schedule II Extending-Release/Long-Acting (ER/LA) and Immediate Release/Short-Acting (IR/SA) prescription opioids using data from 4 large health care systems with established electronic databases. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Denise Boudreau.

Low-Cost Detection of Dementia Using Electronic Health Records Data: Validation and Testing of the Electronic Health Record Risk of Alzheimer’s and Dementia Assessment Rule (eRADAR) Algorithm in a Pragmatic, Patient-Centered Trial:

A 5-year, $4,136,047 grant from the National Institute on Aging. Major goals: To conduct a pragmatic clinical trial of a low-cost intervention to improve recognition and diagnosis of dementia. Within 6 primary care clinics serving about 30,000 patients, we will identify high-risk patients using a novel risk score, the electronic health record Risk of Alzheimer’s and Dementia Assessment Rule (eRADAR), which draws on information from the electronic health record. This study will randomize primary care providers and their panels to receive targeted outreach vs. usual care and will examine the impact on dementia diagnosis rates, patient and provider experience and satisfaction, and health care utilization. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Sascha Dublin.

Public Health Institute- National Leadership Academy for the Public’s Health (PHI-NLAPH) C10:

A 1-year, $60,000 grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Major goals: The major goal of the National Leadership Academy for the Public’s Health (NLAPH) is to assess the impact of the NLAPH on development of leadership skills and impact on the participating communities. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Maggie Jones.

Pragmatic Trial of Acupuncture for Chronic Low Back Pain in Older Adults:

A 3-year, $7,941,711 grant from the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Major goals: To conduct a trial of acupuncture for older adults with chronic low back pain. This study will also collect ancillary information that would be critical for health plans and physicians to include acupuncture into care for older adults. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Karen Sherman.

Tailored Non-Pharmacotherapy Services for Chronic Pain: Testing Scalable and Pragmatic Approaches:

A 4-year, $11,806,872 grant from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. Major goals: This comparative effectiveness research (CER) trial will rigorously evaluate 2 low-cost, scalable modalities of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)-based treatment for chronic pain: 1) an established online intervention (PainTRAINER), and 2) a centralized, telephone- or videoconference-administered intervention with the same components. Both modalities will be compared to usual care services. Performance sites include 4 Healthcare Systems Research Network (HCSRN) sites. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Lynn DeBar.


october 2020

KPWHRI recently received word of 6 new awards.

An Electronic Health Record-Based Tool to Identify Newly Diagnosed Breast Cancer Patients at Risk of Low Social Support:

A 5-year, $379,267 grant from the National Cancer Institute. This proposal builds on previous Cancer Research Network-funded pilot work to develop an electronic health record (EHR)-based tool to identify newly diagnosed breast cancer (BC) patients at risk of low social support. Goals of the proposal are to: 1) Identify variables in the EHR based on theory and prior literature and informed by stakeholders in BC care within Kaiser Permanente Northern California that measure or indicate structural or functional social support and that have been associated with BC treatment and outcomes; 2) Develop an EHR-based measure that identifies patients at risk of low social support, overall and by race/ethnicity; and 3) Validate the EHR-based social support measure and evaluate associations of the measure and its component variables with race/ethnicity, BC treatment (surgery delays, chemotherapy delays, nonadherence to hormonal therapy) and BC-specific and total mortality. Associations with treatment and mortality will be evaluated overall and by race/ethnicity. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Leah Tuzzio.

CAFÉ: Clinic-based Intervention to Address Financial Hardship for People with Cancer - Virtual Intervention Pilot:

A 4-month, $17,543 grant from Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute Innovation Fund. The goal of this grant is to conduct a virtual pilot intervention for our CAFÉ study, a clinic-based intervention to address financial hardships for people with cancer (originally planned in person) to test the feasibility and acceptability of methods and materials addressing the virtual nature of the intervention. During this pilot, we will also take the opportunity to implement the Kaiser Permanente Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity (EID) health equity framework. Additional funds would support time for our team to consult with the Equity and Inclusion Team to ensure our study design and instruments are appropriately addressing vulnerable and underserved population needs. The proposed work is innovative as it will allow us to build upon best practices around virtual interventions for people with cancer and to formally and intentionally review our study protocol for equity. The principal investigator is Nora Henrikson.

Multi-Modal Study of Validity and Reliability of Cancer Screening Questions for the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS):

A 4-year, $929,851 grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The purpose of this Special Interest Project (SIP) is to develop accurate survey measures for lung, cervical, breast, and colorectal screening, and to evaluate the validity and reliability of those measures. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Erin J. Bowles.

Organizing Nursing to Improve Care Quality and Safety: A Hybrid Implementation-Effectiveness Study:

A 3-year, $1,174,291 grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Major goals: To leverage a natural experiment in 66 clinical care units in 9 hospitals across 5 states (Georgia, Texas, Michigan, North Carolina, and Illinois) that integrated Clinical Nurse Leaders (CNLs) into their frontline nursing care delivery model to estimate the CNL care model’s effectiveness in impacting better care and better health. To generate knowledge that enables wide-spread implementation and sustained utilization of evidence-based frontline Registered Nurse (RN) care models that maximize the quality and safety of care. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Maricela Cruz.

Proteomic Discovery in an Inception Cohort of Acute Myocardial Infarction Survivors

A 4-year, $333,628 grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Major goals: The goals of this project are to use proteomics to improve our understanding of the etiology of recurrent coronary heart disease (CHD), and to identify proteins that are causal factors and potential therapeutic targets for the secondary prevention of CHD. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Laura Harrington.

Validating a DSM-5 Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Symptom Checklist in Electronic Health Record (EHR) Data from a Large Primary Care Sample to Support Future Pragmatic Trials and Chronic Care Management of SUDs in Primary Care:

A 6-month, $123,552 grant from National Institute on Drug Abuse. Major goals: The objective of this study is to conduct a rigorous psychometric evaluation of DSM-5 Substance Use (SU) Symptom Checklists from the Kaiser Permanente Washington electronic health record (EHR), completed by primary care patients who report daily cannabis use or any other drug use in the past year. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Katharine A. Bradley.


september 2020

KPWHRI recently received word of 4 new awards.

Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) Thrive Range Suicide Prevention

A 1-year, $40,000 grant from the Minnesota Department of Health. Major goal: To evaluate a community-based suicide prevention program in Northeastern Minnesota in rural St. Louis County (the “Iron Range” area), which has been disproportionately affected by high suicide rates.  The overall goal of this program, “Thrive Range,” is to build community capacity and leadership so that communities are better equipped to address the factors creating disparity in mental health outcomes.  The program includes 3 arms focused on health care, schools, and an online population-based suicide-prevention intervention. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Maggie Jones.

Mental Health Research Network III - Buprenorphine Effect on Suicidal Behavior Supplement

A 2-year, $973,078 grant from the National Institute of Mental Health. Major goals: A large observational study involving 4 Mental Health Research Network (MHRN) sites evaluating the effects of initiating buprenorphine treatment on suicidal behavior among people with opioid use disorder, including those with and without co-occurring mental health conditions or other known risk factors for suicidal behavior. The principal investigator is Gregory E. Simon.

Mental Health Research Network III Supplement: Impact and Implications of Rapid Transition to Virtual Mental Health Care during COVID-19

A 5-year, $414,092 grant from the National Institute of Mental Health. Major goals: To examine patient-level predictors of mental health care access and utilization with the rapid transition to telehealth visits, including variation by age, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status and to examine the association with mental health care access and utilization on depression and anxiety severity; suicidal ideation; medication and psychotherapy adherence; emergency department visits; psychiatric hospitalizations; and suicide attempts and deaths. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Gregory E. Simon.

Proteomic Discovery in an Inception Cohort of Acute Myocardial Infarction Survivors

A 4-year, $333,628 grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Major goals: To use proteomics to improve our understanding of the etiology of recurrent coronary heart disease and to identify proteins that are causal factors and potential therapeutic targets for the secondary prevention of congenital heart disease. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Laura Harrington.


august 2020

KPWHRI recently received word of 6 new awards.

Annual Adult Changes in Thought (ACT) Symposium

A 5-year, $249,975 grant from the National Institute on Aging. Major goals: To provide support for the annual ACT symposium, including meeting space, travel, registration, and support staff salaries. The principal investigator is Eric B. Larson.

Implementing Routine Screening for Cannabis and Other Drug Use Disorders in Primary Care: Impact on Diagnosis and Treatment in a Randomized Pragmatic Trial in 22 Clinics

A 3-year, $1,047,629 grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Major goals: To rigorously evaluate systematic screening and assessment in primary care for drug use disorders. The opportunity for this evaluation was created when screening and assessment for drug use disorders were unexpectedly added to a randomized, stepped wedge, 22-clinic trial originally planned to focus exclusively on alcohol use disorders. The principal investigator is David S. Carrell.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Sentinel - Real World Endpoints: Data Partner Source System Querying

A 1-year, $49,939 grant from the Food and Drug Administration. Major goals: The major goals of this project are to authorize the Sentinel Operations Center to develop real world data (RWD) feasibility counts to support COVID and other emerging public health activities by providing resources for Sentinel Data Partners to develop site-specific programs to query their site-specific data (defined as any data not included in the production version of the Sentinel Distributed Database). To address specific questions from the FDA, Data Partners will be given a shell table to implement.  Programming developed by Data Partners will not be required to follow all the Sentinel’s Programming Standard Operating Procedures. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Denise M. Boudreau.

Home Phototherapy – University of Washington Funding

A 7-month, $11,140 grant from the UW. Major goals: To document the effectiveness and safety of a simplified home phototherapy program that is being employed in some of the Kaiser Permanente Washington clinics in western Washington. The principal investigator is Karen J. Sherman.

Kaiser Permanente Washington Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Unit - Administrative Supplement

A 3-year, $9,516,425 grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Major goals: The major goal of this project is to conduct a Phase 3 trial of a COVID-19 vaccine. The principal investigator is Lisa A. Jackson.

Long-Term Costs and Return on Investment for Bariatric Surgery

A 4-year, $549,478 grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Major goals: To compare 5- and 10-year changes in total costs of health care among patients undergoing sleeve gastrectomy (SG) and Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) versus matched non-surgical patients with severe obesity; to examine heterogeneity in the effect of surgery on costs to understand whether there are clinical subgroups of patients with severe obesity who have more favorable post-surgical cost trajectories; and to estimate time to break-even for each subgroup to identify the return-on-investment in 1-year increments over a 10-year time frame after accounting for the initial costs of surgery. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is David E. Arterburn.


july 2020

KPWHRI recently received word of 7 new awards.

Biological Heterogeneity in Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD)

A 5-year, $403,750 grant from the National Institute on Aging. Major goals: The Adult Changes in Thought (ACT) U19 projects is a major expansion of the 25-year-old ACT UO1. It explores the areas of biological heterogeneity, resilience, and a life course approach as critical new areas of research to better understand Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in aging adults.  4 projects and 7 cores are included in this ambitious proposal. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Eric B. Larson.

Center for Care Innovations (CCI) – Resilient Beginnings Network

A 3-month, $3,505 grant from Genentech. Major goals: The Resilient Beginnings Network is a learning collaborative aimed to support safety net organizations in becoming healing organizations, including mitigating the traumatic effects of racism. The evaluation aims to assess progress and learning related to fostering organizational practices, leadership, and culture that promote resilience among families with young children; improving care and experience for staff and providers; and improving care and experience for children and their families. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Lisa Schafer.

California Health Care Foundation (CHCF) – Connected Care Accelerator

A 1-year, $155,211 grant from the California Health Care Foundation. Major goals: To assess the impact of the learning collaborative on participating clinic's ability to deliver telehealth services. To provide real time feedback to the funder & technical assistance provider to improve the initiative. To share promising practices such as telehealth with the field. The principal investigator is Maggie Jones.

Identifying and Supporting Patients with Undiagnosed Dementia Using the EHR Risk of Alzheimer’s and Dementia Assessment Rule (eRADAR): A Pilot Clinical Trial

A 4-year, $3,098,307 grant from the National Institute on Aging. Major goals: To conduct a pilot randomized clinical trial of targeted dementia screening in primary care, focusing on patients at high risk of having undiagnosed dementia. We will identify high-risk patients using a novel risk score, the electronic health record Risk of Alzheimer’s and Dementia Assessment Rule (eRADAR), which draws on information from the electronic health record. This study will randomize about 50 primary care providers and their panels to receive targeted outreach versus usual care and will examine outcomes including acceptability, feasibility, dementia diagnosis rates, and subsequent healthcare utilization, and to lay the groundwork for a future full-scale clinical trial. The principal investigator is Sascha Dublin.

Impact of COVID-19 on Patients with High Social and Medical Needs

A 2-year, $204,799 grant from the Garfield Memorial Foundation. Major goals: To examine the independent contributions of self-reported social needs and medical comorbidities on COVID testing, infection, and complication rates in patients with complex needs. To understand the impact and experience of the social distancing and the Kaiser Permanente care response to the COVID pandemic on the medical and mental health of patients with complex needs. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is James D. Ralston.

Integrating Behavioral and Social Sciences Concepts into Multidisciplinary Translational Research through Dissemination and Implementation Training

An 8-month, $14,673 grant from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. Major goals: To develop an educational program that involves both an interactive workshop and a varied set of hands-on experiences that TL1 trainees at the University of Washington can undertake to solidify their understanding of dissemination and implementation science. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Michael L. Parchman.

ReCAPSE: Recurrence using Claims And Patient Report Outcomes (PROs) for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER) Expansion

A 3-year, $191,066 grant from the National Cancer Institute. Major goals: To advance cancer surveillance science by developing, validating, and deploying a scalable approach for identifying cancer recurrence using medical claims data and patient reported outcomes. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Jessica Chubak.


june 2020

KPWHRI recently received word of 7 new awards.

Feasibility and Assessment of a Cascade Traceback Screening program – FACTS

A 4-year, $984,767 grant from the National Cancer Institute. Major goals: Health systems have a unique opportunity to facilitate cascade screening and traceback testing of individuals as they often care for multiple members of the same family. We will focus on the feasibility and options for implementation of a traceback protocol through methods, messages, and legal issues related to a program to identify probands and family members for traceback cascade testing. Our research questions are in what organizational contexts and populations traceback program for proband identification and cascade screening of family members can be implemented, what would successful outcomes be for such programs, and what are the contextual, logistical, and legal barriers to be addressed. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Nora Henrikson.

Gut – SARS – CoV2

A 3-month, $10,344 grant from ARMADA. Major goals: The goal of the GUT C project is to validate a test for the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the stool samples of those who have tested positive for the virus by nasopharyngeal swab sampling. This is the first step in a long-term goal to determine if testing for the virus in stool samples is helpful to providers who care for patients with COVID-19. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is James D. Ralston.

Kaiser Permanente Interregional Cancer Statistics Project

A 3-year, $16,000 grant from the Garfield Memorial Foundation. Major goals: To calculate age and gender adjusted cancer incidence rates for Kaiser Permanente (KP) patients diagnosed with lung, colorectal, and breast cancers between 2012-2018 and determine the 5-year relative survival by year of diagnosis for patients diagnosed with the cancers of focus within and across KP regions. To calculate cancer-specific mortality (and potentially all-cause mortality) for KP patients diagnosed with the cancers of focus. This foundational work will have significant benefits, including enhancing understanding of our system’s cancer burden and outcomes, providing the groundwork for KP’s continued excellence in cancer care delivery. The principal investigator is Karen Wernli.

Molecular Clonality of Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (E. coli)

A 5-year, $788,469 grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Major goals: The proposed studies are focused on understanding the basis of gut carriage and urovirulence of multi-drug resistant E. coli by the comparative genetic analysis of strains that will be isolated from feces and urine of a large number of women over the age of 50. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is James D. Ralston.

Potential for Repurposing Currently Approved Medications to Fight COVID-19:  A Proof-of-Concept Study

A 7-month, $183,747 grant from the Garfield Memorial Foundation. Major goals: To examine the use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) as a risk factor for infection with SARS-CoV-2 among newly infected members. To examine the prognosis associated with the use of ACEIs and ARBs (versus non-use), including the outcomes of pneumonia, hospitalization, admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), and mortality. The principal investigator is Sascha Dublin.

Sentinel Innovation Center: Master Plan and Innovation Center (IC) Collaboration Activities II

A 1-year, $11,837 grant from the Food and Drug Administration. Major goals: The major goal of this project is to develop the Innovation Center’s (IC’s) master plan for the prioritization, development and incorporation of innovative technologies into the Sentinel System to help the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) achieve three key legislative mandates. The master plan will identify key strategic priorities of the IC; define the vision, mission, and goals of the IC; identify approaches, data, and technologies that could help achieve the goals; and propose a set of discrete, realistic, feasible, and executable projects to test and develop these technologies. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Jennifer C. Nelson.

Supplemental Funds for COVID-19 Surveillance in the United States Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness Network

A 3-month, $500,000 grant from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Major goals: The major goals of this project are to describe clinical characteristics and the spectrum of COVID-19 in ambulatory settings and to estimate the incidence of COVID-19 related respiratory illness in ambulatory settings. The principal investigator is Michael L. Jackson.


may 2020

KPWHRI recently received word of 4 new awards.

Alpha Blockers and COVID-19 Infection

A 6-month, $20,000 grant from John Hopkins University. Major goals: To develop protocols, tools, and resources to support a study of COVID-19 infection and severe morbidity in relation to use of alpha blocker medications. The principal investigator is Sascha Dublin.

COVID-19 Patient Research Registry

A 5-month, $52,222 grant from the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute Innovation Fund. Major goals: To establish and operate a registry of KP Washington members who have tested positive for SARS CoV-2/COVID-19 and who are willing to be contacted about research Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI) is doing about SARS CoV-2/COVID-19. Once the registry is established, KPWHRI investigators will apply for use of its member information to registry’s governing committee, led by Dr. Michael L. Jackson. This committee will regulate the frequency with which registry members can be contacted to prevent inundating them with research invitations. The principal investigator is Michael L. Jackson.

Leveraging Machine Learning to Improve Risk Prediction for Chemotherapy Induced Neuropathy

A 4-year, $850,510 grant from the National Cancer Institute. Major goals: To develop and validate a machine learning enabled predictive model to identify patients at high risk for acute (less than 14 days) and chronic (14 days or more) chemotherapy associated peripheral neuropathy (CAPN) following start of chemotherapy treatment in a large integrated care setting. To validate externally the risk prediction model in a second integrated health system. To estimate the effect of changing the initial chemotherapy-based treatment plan (e.g., mono compared to combination therapy, reduced compared to full dose) on the risk of CAPN and 5-year cancer survival rates and possible effect heterogeneity (race, ethnicity, and age) among patients at high risk for CAPN using causal inference methods. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Jessica Chubak.

Leveraging Tumor Registries and Pathology Specimens to Facilitate Genetic Testing and Traceback for Ovarian Cancer

A 4-year, $453,288 grant from the National Cancer Institute. Major goals: To design, implement, and ethically evaluate a health care system-led notification process for familial (genetic) disease risk. To do this we will conduct focus groups to determine culturally appropriate messages for sending to ovarian cancer patients and alerting them to availability of testing. We will then invite members with a new diagnosis of ovarian cancer to receive genetic counseling and testing per usual clinical processes. Finally, we will conduct follow up interviews with participants and providers to assess the utility of the process. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Nora Henrikson.


april 2020

KPWHRI recently received word of 4 new awards.

A Platform for Cell Type-Level Transcriptomic, Epigenomic, and Spatial Interrogation of Alzheimer’s Disease

A 5-year, $640,898 grant from the National Institute on Aging. Major goals: To leverage single cell transcriptomic, epigenomic and highly multiplexed molecular spatial analysis methods - established through the BRAIN (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) Initiative and similar efforts - to develop a platform for detailed cell type phenotypic characterization of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) pathology. These tools will be applied to generate a foundational understanding of the molecular and structural progression of Alzheimer’s Disease, identify transcriptional and spatial hallmarks of AD pathology and affected molecular pathways, and create a catalytic open access dataset for the research community. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Eric B. Larson

BRCA (BReast CAncer Gene) Cohort - Radiotherapy and Electronic Health Records (EHR) Data Extension

A 2-year, $249,997 grant from the National Cancer Institute. Major goals: This study is evaluating the late-effects breast cancer treatments in a large cohort of breast cancer survivors. The principal investigator is Diana S. Buist.

CityHealth Evaluation

A 2-month, $12,500 grant from the de Beaumont Foundation. Major goals: To understand the policy adoption process in CityHealth cities so that the program can improve moving forward. The principal investigator is Erin Hertel.

Sentinel Common Data Model (SCDM) 8.0.0 Implementation: Addition of a Prescribing table, Addition of Code Types for Dispensing, Diagnosis, and Procedure tables, and Enhancements for Provider and Facility Identification

A 13-month, $59,834 grant from the Food and Drug Administration. Major goals: To enhance the Sentinel Common Data Model (SCDM) by adding a prescribing table, international value sets, and modifications to several existing SCDM tables to better capture provider and facility information. To develop the necessary infrastructure to support routine updates to all revised SCDM tables, by all participating Data Partners. This includes modifications to existing infrastructure to ensure that both distributed programs and tools, as well as local support tools (such as tracking systems, workflows, Statistical Analysis System (SAS) programs), and relevant test environments are updated to reflect the new data and processes. Lastly, to modify the SCDM to achieve efficiency gains and to improve program execution time. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Denise M. Boudreau.


march 2020

KPWHRI recently received word of 4 new awards.

Biologics and Biosimilars Collective Intelligence Consortium 2020 Baseline Contract

A 1-year, $32,029 grant from the Biologics and Biosimiliars Collective Intelligence Consortium. Major goals: To develop preliminary data to pursue research on comparative effectiveness of Biologics and Biosimilars. The principal investigator is Kai Yeung.

Center for Care Innovations California Adverse Childhood Events (ACEs) Training and Learning Network Evaluation

A 2-year, $250,000 grant from the Center for Care Innovations. Major goals: To access changes in organizations’ capabilities, staff experience, and clinic-level outcomes related to implementing Adverse Childhood Events (ACEs) screening. To understand the contribution of the learning collaborative to organizations’ progress. To provide real time information back to program stakeholders to improve the learning collaborative. The principal investigator is Maggie Jones.

Modeling to Minimize Detection Bias in Cancer Risk Prediction Studies

A 5-year, $258,895 grant from the National Cancer Institute. Major goals: To develop methods that will help people understand how common risk factors like family history and breast density affect their risk of getting cancer rather than their risk of getting a cancer diagnosis. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Ellen O'Meara.

The California Endowment (TCE) – California Leadership Academy for the Public’s Health (CaLAPH) Cohort 6

A 1-year, $5,000 grant from The California Endowment. Major goals: To assess competency changes in the California Leadership Academy for the Public’s Health (CaLAPH) participants over the course of the program. To assess the contribution of the program to individual participants and communities. To provide results back to the Center for Health Leadership and Practice (CHLP), and to improve this and subsequent programs. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Maggie Jones.


february 2020

KPWHRI recently received word of 1 new award.

A Study of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: Incidence, Case-finding and Patterns of Care in a United States Population-Based Cohort

A 2-year, $791,071 grant from Bayer AG. Major goals: To track the annual rates of incident Polycystic Ovary Syndrome in a US population-based cohort of women during a 12-year interval (2006-2017), and to track the trends in estimated PCOS incidence over a 12-year interval (2006-2017). To estimate the prevalence of PCOS in a US population-based cohort of women. To develop and validate an automated case-finding algorithm for incident PCOS in a sample of women randomly selected from a US population-based cohort. To assess post-PCOS diagnosis treatment and utilization patterns in a real-world setting, including surgical interventions, pharmacotherapy, diagnoses of additional conditions, and overall health care utilization for up to 5 years from incident PCOS diagnosis. To identify whether PCOS diagnosis is associated with selected morbidities (e.g. Type 2 diabetes, myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, depression, obesity) in the 3-5 years post-diagnosis. The principal investigator is Onchee Yu.


January 2020

KPWHRI recently received word of 5 new awards.

Implementation and Effectiveness of Multicomponent Genomic Health Care Interventions for Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Prevention: A Natural Experiment in an Integrated Health System

A 3-year, $101,294 grant from the National Human Genome Research Institute. Major goals: To develop career goals in genomic implementation in clinical settings for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Karen Wernli.

Livewell and Active Living

A 6-month, $10,000 grant from Kaiser Foundation Hospitals. Major goals: To analyze and report on the Spring 2020 Active Living grants data. The Center for Community Health and Evaluation (CCHE) has already analyzed and reported on data provided in 2019, and this new data will be folded into the current slide doc once analyzed. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Erin Hertel.

North Sound Accountable Community Health (ACH) Collaboration Evaluation

A 1-year, $40,000 grant from the North Sound Accountable Community of Health (ACH). Major goals: The Arcora Foundation is funding a local impact network (LIN) in the North Sound Accountable Communities of Health (NSACH) region to respond to oral health needs and disparities in Snohomish, Skagit, Whatcom, San Juan, and Island counties. The LINs are designed to build local capacity across organizations and community stakeholders. The major goals of this evaluation project are to understand the implementation progress and outcomes and to understand the level of collaboration and the strength of the Oral Health LIN. The principal investigator is Erin Hertel.

Planning Phase of Overuse and Trust in an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Setting Evaluation

A 7-month, $54,394 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Major goals: The goals of this grant are to establish partnership with up to 10 accountable care organizations (ACO), to administer the high-value care survey to clinicians in each ACO, to work with stakeholders to develop agreed upon measures of low-value care for patients with dementia, and to develop a multi-level strategy to reduce low-value dementia care. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Michael L. Parchman.

The Bariatric Experience Long Term (BELONG) II for Racial and Ethnic Minority Patients

A 4-year, $443,370 grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Major goals: To understand the patient experience of bariatric surgery from the perspective of minority and ethnically diverse populations, namely African American and Hispanic patients.  Rich qualitative analysis will yield patient perspectives of the challenges and facilitators of weight loss success, and these insights can inform and improve patient care. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Marlaine Gray.