Gregory E. Simon, MD, MPH
“We bring a practical approach to mental health research, working to break down barriers between research and real-world health care.”
Gregory E. Simon, MD, MPH
Senior Investigator, Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute
Psychiatrist, Washington Permanente Medical Group
Professor, Department of Health Systems Science, Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine
Research Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington
Biography
Greg Simon, MD, MPH, is a psychiatrist and senior investigator well-known for his extensive research on practical approaches to improving mental health care. He seeks to develop and evaluate effective real-world strategies that support better mental health and wellness. Current areas of emphasis include identifying and assessing suicide risk, improving care for treatment-resistant depression, and reducing racial and ethnic disparities in mental health care.
Dr. Simon leads the Mental Health Research Network (MHRN), a consortium of research centers affiliated with 13 large health systems across the United States, including Kaiser Permanente Washington. This network, originally funded through a cooperative agreement with the National Institute of Mental Health, aims to improve the efficiency, relevance, and impact of mental health clinical and health services research. The MHRN is exploring a broad range of issues—including suicide prevention, improving heart health in people with serious mental illness, using electronic medical records to improve follow-up care for depression, and understanding the causes of racial and ethnic disparities in mental health care.
Dr. Simon and his MHRN colleagues have conducted several large studies across MHRN health systems, including:
- A pragmatic trial in four health systems examining the effect of systematic outreach programs to prevent suicide attempt among people at high risk.
- Using electronic health records from seven health systems to develop and validate machine learning models to identify people at high risk of suicidal behavior.
- A pragmatic trial in two health systems evaluating electronic health record tools to reduce risk of cardiovascular disease in people with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
- A rigorous evaluation of Zero Suicide care improvement programs in six health systems
- Developing measures to assess quality of care for depression in two health systems.
Dr. Simon sits on the editorial board for the journal General Hospital Psychiatry, and co-chairs the National Academy of Medicine’s Forum on Drug Discovery, Development and Translation.. Dr. Simon has practiced adult psychiatry in Kaiser Permanente Washington's Mental Health and Wellness Service since 1990. He is also a professor in the department of Health Systems Science at the Bernard J Tyson Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine and an adjunct professor inPsychiatry and Behavioral Dciences at the University of Washington.
Research interests and experience
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Mental Health
Depression; bipolar disorder; suicide prevention; self-management; treatment adherence
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Chronic Illness Management
Comorbidity of mental health conditions with obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and substance use disorders.
Recent publications
Boudreaux ED, Rundensteiner E, Liu F, Wang B, Larkin C, Agu E, Ghosh S, Semeter J, Simon G, Davis-Martin RE. Applying machine learning approaches to suicide prediction using healthcare data: overview and future directions. Front Psychiatry. 2021 Aug 3;12:707916. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.707916. eCollection 2021. PubMed
Penfold RB, Whiteside U, Johnson EE, Stewart CC, Oliver MM, Shortreed SM, Beck A, Coleman KJ, Rossom RC, Lawrence JM, Simon GE. Utility of item 9 of the patient health questionnaire in the prospective identification of adolescents at risk of suicide attempt. Suicide Life Threat Behav. 2021 Jul 31. doi: 10.1111/sltb.12751. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Coley RY, Boggs JM, Beck A, Simon GE. Predicting outcomes of psychotherapy for depression with electronic health record data. J Affect Disord Rep. 2021 Dec;6:100198. doi: 10.1016/j.jadr.2021.100198. Epub 2021 Jul 24. PubMed
Penfold RB, Johnson E, Shortreed SM, Ziebell RA, Lynch FL, Clarke GN, Coleman KJ, Waitzfelder BE, Beck AL, Rossom RC, Ahmedani BK, Simon GE. Predicting suicide attempts and suicide deaths among adolescents following outpatient visits. J Affect Disord. 2021 Jul 1;294:39-47. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2021.06.057. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Rossom RC, Richards JE, Sterling S, Ahmedani B, Boggs JM, Yarborough BJH, Beck A, Lloyd K, Frank C, Liu V, Clinch SB, Patke LD, Simon GE. Connecting research and practice: implementation of suicide prevention strategies in learning health care systems. Psychiatr Serv. 2022 Feb 1;73(2):219-222. doi: 10.1176/appi.ps.202000596. Epub 2021 Jun 30. PubMed
Platt R, Simon GE, Hernandez AF. Is learning worth the trouble? - improving health care system participation in embedded research. N Engl J Med. 2021;385(1):5-7. doi: 10.1056/NEJMp2101700. Epub 2021 Jun 26. PubMed
Simon GE, Bindman AB, Dreyer NA, Platt R, Watanabe JH, Horberg M, Hernandez A, Califf RM. When can we trust real-world data to evaluate new medical treatments? Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2022 Jan;111(1):24-29. doi: 10.1002/cpt.2252. Epub 2021 May 28. PubMed
Coley RY, Walker RL, Cruz M, Simon GE, Shortreed SM. Clinical risk prediction models and informative cluster size: assessing the performance of a suicide risk prediction algorithm. Biom J. 2021 Oct;63(7):1375-1388. doi: 10.1002/bimj.202000199. Epub 2021 May 24. PubMed
Richards JE, Simon GE, Boggs JM, Beidas R, Yarborough BJH, Coleman KJ, Sterling SA, Beck A, Flores JP, Bruschke C, Grumet JG, Stewart CC, Schoenbaum M, Westphal J, Ahmedani BK. An implementation evaluation of "Zero Suicide" using normalization process theory to support high-quality care for patients at risk of suicide. Implement Res Pract. 2021 Jan 1;2:10.1177/26334895211011769. doi: 10.1177/26334895211011769. Epub 2021 May 24. PubMed
Simon GE, Platt R, Watanabe JH, Bindman AB, London AJ, Horberg M, Hernandez A, Califf RM. When can we rely on real-world evidence to evaluate new medical treatments? Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2022 Jan;111(1):30-34. doi: 10.1002/cpt.2253. Epub 2021 May 19. PubMed
Research
Suicide attempts decreased after adding suicide care to primary care
Safety planning and risk screening improved outcomes for adult patients.
Research
Can machine learning help treat depression more effectively?
A new grant funds modeling work to make personalized treatment possible.
Research
Understanding adoption of Lock to Live, a decision aid supporting suicide prevention
KPWHRI research finds ways to increase use of a firearm safety tool.
Research
A medication that can relieve symptoms of psychosis is underused
Study finds that many patients who might benefit from clozapine don’t receive it.
Research
Improving and advancing mental health care
KPWHRI researchers are contributing to better mental health care for people nationwide.
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