Grants Awarded 2022

A 1-year, $376,244 grant from the National Institute on Aging. Major goals: We will first culturally adapt an intervention to reduce sedentary time and increase physical activity for Latinx adults over age 55.  We will then test the efficacy of the adapted intervention in a randomized controlled trial and examine whether any improvements were mediated by psychosocial mechanisms. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Dori Rosenberg.

Risk-Based Breast Cancer Screening and Surveillance in Community Practice

A 5-year, $499,655 grant from the National Cancer Institute. Major goals: The major goal of the program is to provide evidence to improve the equity and effectiveness of breast cancer screening and surveillance. Findings will inform public health efforts to promote equitable risk-based screening and surveillance and reduce breast cancer disparities. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Erin Bowles.

Risk-Based Breast Cancer Screening and Surveillance in Community Practice

A 5-year, $3,582,893 grant from the National Cancer Institute. Major goals: The major goal of the program is to provide evidence to improve the equity and effectiveness of breast cancer screening and surveillance. Findings will inform public health efforts to promote equitable risk-based screening and surveillance and reduce breast cancer disparities. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Ellen O'Meara.

A 1-year, $195,000 grant from Pfizer. Major goals: The major goals of this project are to evaluate the efficacy, safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of an mRNA vaccine against influenza in healthy adults 18 years of age and older. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Lisa Jackson.

Advancing Equitable Risk-Based Breast Cancer Screening and Surveillance in Community Practice

A 5-year, $526,400 grant from the National Cancer Institute. Major goals: The major goal of the program is to provide evidence to improve the equity and effectiveness of breast cancer screening and surveillance. Findings will inform public health efforts to promote equitable risk-based screening and surveillance and reduce breast cancer disparities. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Ellen O'Meara.

A 1-year, $72,048 grant from the National Cancer Institute. Major goals: This exploratory chart review study will examine care patterns related to genetic services in a retrospective sample of people with prior diagnosis of ovarian cancer. The analysis will have a health equity focus, seeking to identify patterns of genetics referral and genetic testing acceptance or decline, with a focus on population groups that have been historically underserved (e.g., due to race/ethnicity, distance from genetics care center). The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Nora Henrikson.

Health Systems Node of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Clinical Trials Network: Cannabis Use among Pregnant Women with Psychiatric and Substance Use Disorders

A 1-year, $83,673 grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Major goals: We address important gaps in the literature with an unparalleled opportunity to use valid and contemporary data to study the relationship between psychiatric disorders and substance use disorders and prenatal cannabis use and treatment utilization. This study leverages Kaiser Permanente Northern California’s (KPNC) well-established and unique universal prenatal drug use screening program that includes self-report and urine toxicology tests. This program screens around 40,000 pregnant women annually, providing a large, diverse cohort of women with objective measures of prenatal cannabis use. KPNC has comprehensive electronic health records enabling collection of rich clinical data, including psychiatric disorders, substance use disorders, and treatment services. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Gwen Lapham.

Optimizing Firearm Suicide Prevention in Health Care

A 3-year, $1,949,538 grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Major goals: The major goals of this project are to use 2 complementary approaches, human-centered design (HCD) and community-based participatory research (CBPR), to optimize firearm suicide prevention practices in health care systems. Specifically, we will employ principles from CBPR and the Discover, Design and Build, and Test HCD framework to inform practice design and implementation strategies in 3 health care systems serving around 1.5 million people in communities with high rates of firearm ownership and suicide. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Julie Richards.

A 1-year, $95,940 grant from the National Institute on Aging. Major goals: To test whether an anti-inflammatory diet can improve cognitive function in a diverse middle-aged population before the onset of cognitive decline related to aging using novel measurement approaches of diet and cognition that measure both in real time. If this project is successful, the anti-inflammatory diet can be disseminated as a low-cost strategy to prevent or delay cognitive decline and reduce Alzheimer's disease risk. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Pamela Shaw.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF-4H) Well Connected Communities Evaluation Wave 3

A 2-year, $677,213 grant from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). Major goals: The goals of this project are to provide evaluation support for Well Connected Communities (WCC) Wave 3 including understanding progress and promoting learning for the Cooperative Extension System and RWJF. The evaluation will focus on the extent to which WCC is advancing: 1) health equity, 2) systems change within Extension, and 3) equitable development. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Lisa Schafer.       

A 2-year, $70,000 grant from the California Health Care Foundation. Major goals: Synthesize results across 2 complementary telehealth investments and provide additional evaluation support around understanding the contributions of different learning collaborative models. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Maggie Jones.

Institute for Clinical and Economic Review — Fezolinetant for Vasomotor Symptoms of Menopause

A 2-year, $57,000 grant from the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review. Major goals: Review the safety, effectiveness, and value of fezolinetant for vasomotor symptoms of menopause. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Kai Yeung.

Institute of Translational Health Sciences

A 5-year, $255,262 grant from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. Major goals: The scope of work is focused on dissemination and implementation efforts across the Rural Health Laboratory and Institute of Translational Health Sciences (ITHS) Community Engagement Program. Led by Dr. Michael Parchman, these activities include advising on community-driven and investigator-initiated projects to facilitate implementation of findings into practice, developing content for training and workforce development, and participating in scholarly work emanating from the Rural Health Laboratory and ITHS Community Engagement Program. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Michael Parchman.

National Institute of Food and Agriculture — Well Connected Communities Extension Evaluation

A 2-year, $171,067 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Major goals: Assess the Cooperative Extension System's readiness and implementation of a new framework on health equity and well-being. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Maggie Jones.

Optimizing Exposure Assessment for Inference about Air Pollution Effects with Application to the Aging Brain

A 1-year, $25,897 grant from the Health Effects Institute. Major goals: Improve the inferential strength of air pollution cohort studies by expanding the diversity of high-quality exposure metrics available and assessing their value in the context of existing exposure metrics, as well as advance the state of exposure science for epidemiology. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Eric Larson.

Phase 2 Clinical Trial to Optimize Immune Coverage of SARS-CoV-2 Existing and Emerging Variants

A 1-year, $537,650 grant from the National Cancer Institute. Major goals: The major goals of this project are to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of additional doses of prototype and variant (alone or in combination) vaccine candidates in previously vaccinated participants with or without prior SARS-CoV-2 infection, and to evaluate innate, cellular, and humoral immune responses to inform on how to shift the immune response to cover new variants as they emerge. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Lisa Jackson.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Healthy Communities Evaluation

A 2-year, $983,735 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). Major goals: The major goals of this project are to provide emergent evaluation and learning support to the RWJF on initiatives within their Building Healthy Communities area of focus.  The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Maggie Jones.

Sentinel Common Data Model 8.1.0 Implementation

A 1-year, $20,952 grant from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Major goals: The major goals of this project are to update Sentinel Common Data Model (SCDM) transformation code to meet the specifications of the new data model, and to inform Security Operations Center (SOC) of their required timeline for creating this new code. It is anticipated that the new version of the Quality Assurance (QA) package will be complete by early summer 2022, and it will be ready for utilization for Extract, Transform, Load (ETLs) with updated SCDM v8.1.0 transformation code. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is David Carrell.

A 1-year, $41,569 grant from the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI) Small Grants Program. Major goals: The goal of this project is to identify how an electronic patient portal (EPP) might address adolescent sexual and reproductive health (SRH) care needs and determine factors that impact acceptability and use of an EPP for SRH care. We will use qualitative methods to elicit experiences and preferences of adolescent Kaiser Permanente Washington (KPWA) members, parents of adolescent KPWA members, and primary care providers at KPWA to inform the rigorous design of an intervention to improve adolescent EPP use for SRH care. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Annie Hoopes.

Patient Perspectives on Prescription Opioid Discontinuation: Understanding and Promotion of Safe Transitions

A 5-year, $1,999,999 grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Major goals: The proposed study addresses this critical gap in our understanding of patient and provider experiences, strategies, and decisions when faced with provider-initiated long-term opioid therapy (LTOT) discontinuation. The study will address these gaps by conducting in-depth, qualitative interviews with patients who have recently discontinued LTOT and providers that have discontinued LTOT to achieve the following aims: 1) To assess patient and provider experiences and needs when providers initiate discontinuation of LTOT. 2) To develop a patient decision aid to support patients when discontinuing LTOT. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Clarissa Hsu.

A 2-year, $116,763 grant from the Vose River Charitable Fund. Major goals: The major goal of this project is to understand CityHealth policy advancement, implementation, and adoption activities and outcomes. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Erin Hertel.

Opportunities for an Electronic Patient Portal to Meet Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Care Needs

A 1-year, $41,569 grant from the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI) Small Grants Program. Major goals: The goal of this project is to identify how an electronic patient portal (EPP) might address adolescent sexual and reproductive health (SRH) care needs and determine factors that impact acceptability and use of an EPP for SRH care. We will use qualitative methods to elicit experiences and preferences of adolescent Kaiser Permanente Washington (KPWA) members, parents of adolescent KPWA members, and primary care providers at KPWA to inform the rigorous design of an intervention to improve adolescent EPP use for SRH care. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Annie Hoopes.

Optimizing Implementation in Cancer Control (OPTICC): Advancing Health Equity through Implementation Science: Implementation Science Centers in Cancer Control (ISC3) Environmental Scan and Cross Site Collaboration Supplement

A 1-year, $68,721 grant from the National Cancer Institute. Major goals: The major goal of this project is to develop an Implementation Science Centers in Cancer Control (ISC3) common-elements dataset of publicly available outer context (social determinants) measures that may impact implementation. This dataset, which will include data on Optimizing Implementation in Cancer Control (OPTICC) Implementation Lab (I-Lab) partners’ outer contexts, can be used for further research and pilot studies on the relationship between outer contextual factors and implementation. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Meagan Brown.

Quality Metrics in Time to Biopsy and Lung Cancer Diagnosis in Cancer Screening Population

A 2-year, $150,000 grant from the National Cancer Institute. Major goals: The primary goal of the pilot study is to develop necessary data in developing a benchmarking intervention on lung cancer screening metrics to be tested in a R01 application in National Cancer Institute Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) sites. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Karen Wernli.

Tailoring Care to Meet the Needs of Younger Latinx Adults with Newly Diagnosed Type 2 Diabetes

A 2-year, $31,672 grant from the Garfield Memorial Fund. Major goals: The major goals of this project are to: 1. develop, pilot test and evaluate a proactive, tailored intervention for younger-onset Latinx individuals with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes at Kaiser Permanente Northern California, and 2. to collaborate with operational and clinical stakeholders at 3 Kaiser Permanente (KP) regions (KP Washington, KP Southern California, and KP Northwest) to identify barriers and facilitators to conduct a future multi-site randomized controlled trial with this population. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Leah Tuzzio.

The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Jessica Chubak.

California Health Care Foundation (CHCF) — Connected Care Accelerator (CCA) 2.0

A 2-year, $283,319 grant from the California Health Care Foundation. Major goals: To evaluate the learning collaborative and related program outcomes, including whether access to telehealth has improved, whether tested interventions result in reduced disparities, and patients’ experience of telehealth. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Maggie Jones.

Improve Health, Equity, and Costs for Disadvantaged Patients with Diabetes and Other Comorbidities through Right Primary Care at the Right Time Supported by the Right Payment

A 22-month, $153,177 grant from Helmsley Charitable Trust. Major goals:

1. Provide support and advice to Vayu Health to develop a plan for a rigorous evaluation of a comprehensive team-based approach to providing care for complex patients with diabetes in safety net clinic settings.
2. Assist Vayu health with interpretation of preliminary data from a small 18-month pilot and assist with development of a report and/or presentation for potential future funders.
3. Prepare a manuscript of preliminary results from first-year pilot.

The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Michael Parchman.

Public Health Institute (PHI) — Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) Evaluation

A 6-month, $50,000 grant from the Cigna Foundation. Major goals: To assess and document the impact of the AmeriCorp Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) program on alumni and organizations. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Maggie Jones.

Suicide Prevention Outreach Trial for Youth — Feasibility Phase

An 18-month, $773,280 grant from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. Major goals: The goal of this study is to conduct a pragmatic trial of an intervention to reduce suicide in adolescents that is based on the approach used for adults in the SPOT trial. This 18-month project period is to prepare for the trial and conduct feasibility analyses. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Robert Penfold.​​​​​​

A 4-year, $61,959 grant from the American Cancer Society. Major goals: The project addresses the lack of evidence on financial worry in cancer and will provide evidence on how measurement and treatment of financial worry can be incorporated into clinical practice and policy evaluation. We will adapt measures of worry about affording health care and financial concern, then survey women newly diagnosed with breast cancer shortly after diagnosis and again 1 year later. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Nora Henrikson.

Innovative Methods to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Suicide Risk Prediction

A 4-year, $1,622,626 grant from the National Institute of Mental Health. Major goals: To develop new statistical methods to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in the performance of suicide prediction models. We will define target functions for tree-based prediction models to optimize performance within racial and ethnic subgroups in the presence of differential measurement error in predictors, differential outcome misclassification, and risk modification. We will design simulation-based sample size calculation methods to evaluate whether a prediction study is able to accurately predict suicide outcomes in racial and ethnic subgroups. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Yates Coley.

Maintenance of the Innovation Center (Year 3)

A 1-year, $17,113 grant from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Major goals: The major goals of this project are to identify methodological gaps and develop methods to improve the utility of the Sentinel System by developing new Sentinel analysis tools and creating new approaches to automate key epidemiologic study operations, such as chart review. The Sentinel Innovation Center (IC) Executive Leadership Team oversees all aspects of operations for the IC. The IC Executive Leadership Team has created and will maintain the organizational structure, administrative processes, and governance for the IC and its network of scientific collaborators. The IC will continue to maintain a diverse team with expertise in epidemiology, clinical medicine, pharmacy, statistics, health informatics, and data science (specifically, artificial intelligence). The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Jennifer Nelson.

Master Plan for Integration of Innovation Technologies and Innovation Center Collaboration Activities (Year 3)

A 1-year, $58,193 grant from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Major goals: The major goals of this project are to utilize a master plan for the prioritization, development, and incorporation of innovative technologies and new data sources into the Sentinel System to help the FDA achieve 3 key legislative mandates/strategic priorities: (1) optimizing the sufficiency of the Active Risk Identification and Analysis (ARIA) system to cost effectively use electronic health care data sources for drug safety surveillance; (2) expanding the acceptance and use of real-world data for regulatory decision making; and (3) establishing a query-ready, quality-checked distributed data network containing electronic health records on at least 10 million lives with reusable analysis tools. The Master Plan Workgroup is responsible for coordinating Innovation Center (IC) collaboration activities and establishing and maintaining the IC’s longitudinal webinar series. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Jennifer Nelson.

Public Health Institute – California Leadership Academy for Public Health (PHI – CaLAPH) Cohort 7

A 1-year, $5,000 grant from The California Wellness Foundation. Major goals: To conduct a pre-/post-assessment of California Leadership Academy for Public Health (CaLAPH) participants to assess the impact of program participation. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Maggie Jones.

Partners in Evaluation and Research (PiER) Health Disparities Community Grant Program Evaluation

A 1-year, $12,487 grant from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Major goals: The goal is to evaluate 14 coalitions working to create policy and system changes around social needs including housing and food in Colorado. We will collect data on community engagement, capacity-building efforts, and progress toward implementing changes. We will model long-term impacts on cancer, cardiovascular, and pulmonary disease. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Elena Kuo.

Remote Monitoring to Improve Hypertension Control Among Diverse Patients

A 5-year, $348,882 grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Major goals: Research Evaluation and Commercialization Hubs (REACH) will address known disparities in the prevalence and management of high blood pressure (hypertension) among racial/ethnic minorities and individuals from lower socio-economic backgrounds by combining digital health training with an enhanced digital and home monitoring intervention. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Beverly Green.

Services to Support Studies of the Risk of New Malignancies Following Breast Cancer: Tissue Retrieval for Contralateral Breast Cancer Cases

A 1-year, $149,993 grant from the National Cancer Institute. Major goals: To examine pathological characteristics and molecular features of the index and contralateral tumors in the Kaiser Breast Cancer Survivors’ Cohort at Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI). The KPWHRI lead investigator is Diana Buist.