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):
Boger-Megiddo I, Heckbert SR, Weiss NS, McKnight B, Furberg CD, Wiggins KL, Delaney JA, Siscovick DS, Larson EB, Lemaitre RN, Smith NL, Rice KM, Glazer NL, Psaty BM. Myocardial infarction and stroke associated with diuretic based two drug antihypertensive regimens: population based case-control study. BMJ. 2010;340:c103. doi: 10.1136/bmj.c103. PubMed
Arking DE, Reinier K, Post W, Jui J, Hilton G, O'Connor A, Prineas RJ, Boerwinkle E, Psaty BM, Tomaselli GF, Rea T, Sotoodehnia N, Siscovick DS, Burke GL, Marban E, Spooner PM, Chakravarti A, Chugh SS. Genome-wide association study identifies GPC5 as a novel genetic locus protective against sudden cardiac arrest. PLoS One. 2010;5(3):e9879. PubMed
Ogale SS, Lee TA, Au DH, Boudreau DM, Sullivan SD. Cardiovascular events associated with ipratropium bromide in COPD. Chest. 2010 Jan;137(1):13-9. Epub 2009 Apr 10. PubMed
Debette S, Bis JC, Fornage M, Schmidt H, Ikram MA, Sigurdsson S, Heiss G, Struchalin M, Smith AV, van der Lugt A, DeCarli C, Lumley T, Knopman DS, Enzinger C, Eiriksdottir G, Koudstaal PJ, DeStefano AL, Psaty BM, Dufouil C, Catellier DJ, Fazekas F, Aspelund T, Aulchenko YS, Beiser A, Rotter JI, Tzourio C, Shibata DK, Tscherner M, Harris TB, Rivadeneira F, Atwood LD, Rice K, Gottesman RF, van Buchem MA, Uitterlinden AG, Kelly-Hayes M, Cushman M, Zhu Y, Boerwinkle E, Gudnason V, Hofman A, Romero JR, Lopez O, van Duijn CM, Au R, Heckbert SR, Wolf PA, Mosley TH, Seshadri S, Breteler MM, Schmidt R, Launer LJ, Longstreth WT Jr. Genome-wide association studies of MRI-defined brain infarcts: meta-analysis from the CHARGE Consortium. Stroke. 2010;41(2):210-7. Epub 2009 Dec 31. PubMed
Schnabel RB, Baumert J, Barbalic M, Dupuis J, Ellinor PT, Durda P, Dehghan A, Bis JC, Illig T, Morrison AC, Jenny NS, Keaney JF Jr, Gieger C, Tilley C, Yamamoto JF, Khuseyinova N, Heiss G, Doyle M, Blankenberg S, Herder C, Walston JD, Zhu Y, Vasan RS, Klopp N, Boerwinkle E, Larson MG, Psaty BM, Peters A, Ballantyne CM, Witteman JC, Hoogeveen RC, Benjamin EJ, Koenig W, Tracy RP. Duffy antigen receptor for chemokines (Darc) polymorphism regulates circulating concentrations of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 and other inflammatory mediators. Blood. 2010 Jul;115(26):5289-99. Epub 2009 Dec 29. 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