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):
Odden MC, Rawlings AM, Arnold AM, Cushman M, Biggs ML, Psaty BM, Newman AB. Patterns of cardiovascular risk factors in old age and survival and health status at 90. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2020 Apr 8. pii: 5817783. doi: 10.1093/gerona/glaa043. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Reding KW, Aragaki AK, Cheng RK, Barac A, Wassertheil-Smoller S, Chubak J, Limacher MC, Hundley WG, D'Agostino R Jr, Vitolins MZ, Brasky TM, Habel LA, Chow EJ, Jackson RD, Chen C, Morgenroth A, Barrington WE, Banegas M, Barnhart M, Chlebowski RT. Cardiovascular outcomes in relation to antihypertensive medication use in women with and without cancer: results from the Women's Health Initiative. Oncologist. 2020 Apr 6. doi: 10.1634/theoncologist.2019-0977. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Olson NC, Sitlani CM, Doyle MF, Huber SA, Landay AL, Tracy RP, Psaty BM, Delaney JA. Innate and adaptive immune cell subsets as risk factors for coronary heart disease in two population-based cohorts. Atherosclerosis. 2020 Mar 16. pii: S0021-9150(20)30147-7. doi: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2020.03.011. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Sitlani CM, Lumley T, McKnight B, Rice KM, Olson NC, Doyle MF, Huber SA, Tracy RP, Psaty BM, C Delaney JA. Incorporating sampling weights into robust estimation of Cox proportional hazards regression model, with illustration in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. BMC Med Res Methodol. 2020 Mar 14;20(1):62. doi: 10.1186/s12874-020-00945-9. PubMed
Al-Kindi SG, Buzkova P, Shitole SG, Reiner AP, Garg PK, Gottdiener JS, Psaty BM, Kizer JR. Soluble CD14 and risk of heart failure and its subtypes in older adults. J Card Fail. 2020 Mar 9. pii: S1071-9164(19)30779-1. doi: 10.1016/j.cardfail.2020.03.003. [Epub ahead of print]. 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