Paige Wartko, PhD, MPH
"I collaborate with other scientists to answer real-world questions that have the power to improve care in medication use, behavioral health, and pregnancy."
Paige Wartko, PhD, MPH
Senior Collaborative Scientist, Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute
Paige.D.Wartko@kp.org
206-442-5230
LinkedIn
Biography
Paige Wartko, PhD, MPH, first became interested in public health through her passion for women’s health. Her expertise has since broadened to include medication safety, behavioral health, and mental health. She currently works on a study of medication safety for pregnant women with chronic conditions including depression, anxiety, and hypertension, and two pragmatic trials related to opioid use: One focuses on helping patients who take high doses of opioids manage their chronic pain and lower their opioid dose. Another focuses on treating patients with opioid use disorder with medication in the primary care setting.
Dr. Wartko has been collaborating with Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI) since 2016, when she began working with Dr. Sascha Dublin as a PhD student at the University of Washington Department of Epidemiology. Dr. Wartko’s doctoral research focused on risk of maternal and infant outcomes during pregnancy such as gestational diabetes, maternal gestational weight gain, and infant birthweight that were associated with antidepressant medication use in pregnancy. As a PhD student, she was involved in two additional projects at KPWHRI—the assessment of Kaiser Permanente Washington’s change to a one-step approach to identifying gestational diabetes and the prevalence and frequency of cannabis use during pregnancy.
In addition to her PhD, Dr. Wartko also earned a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree at the University of Washington Department of Epidemiology. Her research assessed the association of developing endometrial cancer and history of gestational diabetes while pregnant. She completed her master’s practicum at Public Health–Seattle & King County, assessing disparities in incidence of low birth weight by maternal birthplace within racial and ethnic groups—work that she presented to community stakeholders. Before starting her MPH work, Dr. Wartko completed a summer internship at the National Cancer Institute, studying trends in endometrial cancer incidence.
RESEARCH INTERESTS AND EXPERIENCE
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Medication Use & Patient Safety
Effectiveness of health system interventions for patients using high-dose opioids; medication safety during pregnancy
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Mental Health
Maternal mental health around the time of pregnancy; substance use and addiction including opioids and cannabis
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Health Services & Economics
Effectiveness of health system interventions for patients with opioid use disorder
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Addictions
Prevention and treatment
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Women's Health
Pregnancy; reproductive cancers
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Recent Publications
Chavez LJ, Yu O, Wartko PD, Braciszewski JM, Glass JE, Horigian VE, Arnsten JH, Murphy MT, Stotts AL, Bagley SM, Lapham GT, Samet JH Opioid use disorder medications among youth in primary care: Subgroup analysis of the PROUD trial 2025 Apr;1(2). doi: 10.1542/pedsos.2024-000392. Epub 2025-04-25. PubMed
Weinstein ZM, Yu O, Wartko PD, Samet JH, Bobb JF, Braciszewski JM, Arnsten JH, Murphy MT, Horigian VE, Stotts AL, Beers D, Bradley K Does implementation of office based addiction treatment by a nurse care manager increase the duration of OUD treatment in primary care? A secondary analysis of the PROUD randomized control trial 2024 Dec;265:112497. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2024.112497. Epub 2024-11-10. PubMed
Lapham GT, Hyun N, Bobb JF, Wartko PD, Matthews AG, Yu O, McCormack J, Lee AK, Liu DS, Samet JH, Zare-Mehrjerdi M, Braciszewski JM, Murphy MT, Arnsten JH, Horigian V, Caldeiro RM, Addis M, Bradley KA Nurse Care Management of Opioid Use Disorder Treatment After 3 Years: A Secondary Analysis of the PROUD Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial 2024 Nov 4;7(11):e2447447. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.47447. Epub 2024-11-04. PubMed
Bobb JF, Idu AE, Qiu H, Yu O, Boudreau DM, Wartko PD, Matthews AG, McCormack J, Lee AK, Campbell CI, Saxon AJ, Liu DS, Altschuler A, Samet JH, Northrup TF, Braciszewski JM, Murphy MT, Arnsten JH, Cunningham CO, Horigian VE, Szapocznik J, Glass JE, Caldeiro RM, Tsui JI, Burganowski RP, Weinstein ZM, Murphy SM, Hyun N, Bradley KA Offering nurse care management for opioid use disorder in primary care: Impact on emergency and hospital utilization in a cluster-randomized implementation trial 2024 Aug;261:111350. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2024.111350. Epub 2024-06-10. PubMed
Wartko PD, Krakauer C, Turner JA, Cook AJ, Boudreau DM, Sullivan MD STRategies to Improve Pain and Enjoy life (STRIPE): results of a pragmatic randomized trial of pain coping skills training and opioid medication taper guidance for patients on long-term opioid therapy 2023 Dec;164(12):2852-2864. doi: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002982. Epub 2023-08-25. PubMed
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Research
Increasing opioid use disorder treatment in primary care
A trial led by KPWHRI researchers found that adding nurse care managers helped more people get needed treatment.
Research roundup
What's new in cannabis use research?
Use in pregnancy and screening in primary care studied by KPWHRI’s Kiel, Matson, and Lapham.
research
Medication in pregnancy: Better data for healthier kids
Researchers need much bigger data sets to find outcomes that matter, Dr. Sascha Dublin and colleagues write in Pediatrics.
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