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):
Ellinor PT, Lunetta KL, Glazer NL, Pfeufer A, Alonso A, Chung MK, Sinner MF, de Bakker PI, Mueller M, Lubitz SA, Fox E, Darbar D, Smith NL, Smith JD, Schnabel RB, Soliman EZ, Rice KM, Van Wagoner DR, Beckmann BM, van Noord C, Wang K, Ehret GB, Rotter JI, Hazen SL, Steinbeck G, Smith AV, Launer LJ, Harris TB, Makino S, Nelis M, Milan DJ, Perz S, Esko T, Köttgen A, Moebus S, Newton-Cheh C, Li M, Möhlenkamp S, Wang TJ, Kao WH, Vasan RS, Nöthen MM, MacRae CA, Stricker BH, Hofman A, Uitterlinden AG, Levy D, Boerwinkle E, Metspalu A, Topol EJ, Chakravarti A, Gudnason V, Psaty BM, Roden DM, Meitinger T, Wichmann HE, Witteman JC, Barnard J, Arking DE, Benjamin EJ, Heckbert SR, Kääb S. Common variants in KCNN3 are associated with lone atrial fibrillation. Nat Genet. 2010;42(3):240-4. Epub 2010 Feb 21. PubMed
Deo R, Sotoodehnia N, Katz R, Sarnak MJ, Fried LF, Chonchol M, Kestenbaum B, Psaty BM, Siscovick DS, Shlipak MG. Cystatin C and sudden cardiac death risk in the elderly. Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes. 2010;3(2):159-64. Epub 2010 Jan 19. PubMed
Longstreth WT Jr, Katz R, Tirschwell DL, Cushman M, Psaty BM. Intravenous tissue plasminogen activator and stroke in the elderly. Am J Emerg Med. 2010;28(3):359-63. PubMed
Naraharisetti SB, Lin YS, Rieder M, Marciante K, Psaty BM, Thummel KE, Totah RA. Human liver expression of CYP2C8: gender, age and genotype effects. Drug Metab Dispos. 2010 Jun;38(6):889-93. Epub 2010 Feb 26. PubMed
Psaty BM. Drug therapies for the primary prevention of cardiovascular events: trials and errors: 2009 Ancel Keys Memorial Lecture. Circulation. 2010;121(7):940-5. 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