Sascha Dublin, MD, PhD

Sascha Dublin

“My work helps people know what medications are safe, especially for vulnerable populations like pregnant women and older adults.”

Sascha Dublin, MD, PhD

Senior Investigator, Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute
Physician, Washington Permanente Medical Group, Internal Medicine
Affiliate Associate Professor, Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine

Sascha.Dublin@kp.org
206-287-2870

Biography

Sascha Dublin, MD, PhD, is a general internist and epidemiologist who studies the health effects of prescription medications and other interventions using real-world health care data. Through her work, she aims to provide better information about the risks and benefits of different treatments so patients and doctors can make well-informed decisions.

Much of Dr. Dublin’s research focuses on the outcomes of medication use or other interventions during pregnancy. These studies take advantage of the rich clinical data available through electronic health records (EHRs). Some of her current work in this area includes:

  • comparing different treatments for hypertension in pregnancy, looking at both the safety and effectiveness of various medications;
  • working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to study whether prescription opioid use in pregnancy increases the risk of birth defects; and
  • studying the impact of treating mild to moderate hypertension during pregnancy through an R01 grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Dr. Dublin recently led an impactful study with Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute colleagues exploring different methods to screen for diabetes in pregnancy. This work examined how outcomes changed for mothers and babies after Kaiser Permanente Washington made a big shift in their approach to gestational diabetes screening. This project found that a new, more intensive approach to screening did not improve health outcomes, and may have even worsened some. As a result, Kaiser Permanente Washington changed back to the previous, more widely used screening approach.

Beyond pregnancy, Dr. Dublin’s work includes studies of medication use and dementia risk in older adults. For example, her team found that heavy use of some commonly used medications including antihistamines increases dementia risk.  They also found that one widely used medication class, proton pump inhibitors, does not increase the risk of dementia—in contrast to some earlier reports—or fractures. 

Dr. Dublin has a strong interest in epidemiologic methods, particularly finding ways to better measure important variables. She has led methods workgroups for the FDA’s Sentinel Initiative and has experience using natural language processing and collecting data from patients through mobile phone apps. Dr. Dublin also has interest and expertise in improving the rigor and validity of observational studies by improving how they account for patients’ other illnesses and overall health status.

Dr. Dublin previously held a Paul B. Beeson Career Development Award (K23) from the National Institute on Aging. She sees patients one day a week in primary care at Kaiser Permanente Washington.

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Research interests and experience 

  • Aging & Geriatrics

    Medications and risk of cognitive decline; use of preventive medications; age-related disease and disability
  • Cardiovascular Health

    Epidemiology
  • Medication Use & Patient Safety

    Medication safety in vulnerable populations including older adults and pregnant women
  • Women’s Health

    Safety and effectiveness of interventions during pregnancy; medication use and safety during pregnancy
  • Child & Adolescent Health

    Impact of in utero medication exposure on the fetus or infant

Vaccines & Infectious Diseases

 

Recent publications

Dublin S, Idu A, Avalos LA, Cheetham TC, Easterling TR, Chen L, Holt VL, Nance N, Bider-Canfield Z, Neugebauer RS, Reynolds K, Badon SE, Shortreed SM. Maternal and neonatal outcomes of antihypertensive treatment in pregnancy: a retrospective cohort study. PLoS One. 2022 May 16;17(5):e0268284. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0268284. eCollection 2022. PubMed

Acton EK, Hennessy S, Brensinger CM, Bilker WB, Miano TA, Dublin S, Horn JR, Chung S, Wiebe DJ, Willis AW, Leonard CE. Opioid drug-drug-drug interactions and unintentional traumatic injury: screening to detect three-way drug interaction signals. Front Pharmacol. 2022 May 10;13:845485. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2022.845485. eCollection 2022. PubMed

Pham Nguyen TP, Soprano SE, Hennessy S, Brensinger CM, Bilker WB, Miano TA, Acton EK, Horn JR, Chung SP, Dublin S, Oslin DW, Wiebe DJ, Leonard CE. Population-based signals of benzodiazepine drug interactions associated with unintentional traumatic injury. J Psychiatr Res. 2022 May 1;151:299-303. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2022.04.033. PubMed

Dawwas GK, Hennessy S, Brensinger CM, Acton EK, Bilker WB, Chung S, Dublin S, Horn JR, Manis MM, Miano TA, Oslin DW, Pham Nguyen TP, Soprano SE, Wiebe DJ, Leonard CE. Signals of muscle relaxant drug interactions associated with unintentional traumatic injury: a population-based screening study. CNS Drugs. 2022 Apr;36(4):389-400. doi: 10.1007/s40263-022-00909-1. Epub 2022 Mar 6. PubMed

 

Research

COVID-and-estrogen_op3_1col.jpg

COVID risks not meaningfully greater with estrogen-containing medications

Oral contraceptives, hormone therapy not linked to more severe COVID outcomes.

Research

Multiracial women enjoying working out together outside

Personalized coaching shows promise for delaying memory loss

Trial is the first to test an individualized approach to improve dementia risk factors.

Research

Female doctor and senior female patient sitting around desk

Dementia risk screening tool shows promise

In a new study, a tool to help discover undiagnosed dementia performed well in 2 separate health systems.

Research

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New findings on treating hypertension in pregnancy

A study led by Dr. Sascha Dublin finds similar outcomes for 3 hypertension medications, filling an evidence gap.