Grants Awarded

A 2-year, $33,365 grant from the National Institute on Aging. Major goals: The goal of this study is to clarify the associations of hearing loss with cognitive and brain aging in middle-aged adults. This includes testing whether pure tone audiometric hearing loss is associated with cognitive test scores, examining the association of hearing loss with cognition among subpopulations with differing background risk of AD/ADRD, and investigating whether hearing loss is associated with brain volumes linked to higher AD/ADRD risk (e.g., hippocampus and white matter hyperintensities). The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Paige Wartko.

Improving Causal Inference in Alzheimer's Disease Prevention Research on Modifiable Risk Factors: The Triangulation of Innovative Methods to EndAD (TIME-AD) Project

A 5-year, $290,628 grant from the National Institute on Aging. Major goals: The major goal of this project is to rigorously evaluate the influence of sensory impairment and treatment of sensory impairments on AD/ADRD risk using modern causal inference methods and a data triangulation framework. It will also aim to leverage multiple data sources to evaluate heterogeneity of effects in subpopulations and whether sensory impairments contribute to differences across groups in AD/ADRD incidence. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Paige Wartko.

The U.S. Deprescribing Research Network

A 1-year, $41,087 grant from the National Institute on Aging. Major goals: For this project, KPWA will lead a development project to identify or develop 2 to 4 algorithms to measure medication dose reduction and/or tapering from electronic health records data and then to apply them to KPWA electronic health records data. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Sascha Dublin.

A 1-year, $27,697 grant from the University of Washington. Major goals: To examine the association between anticholinergic medication use and sedentary time and several other physical activity measures in older adults participating in the Adult Changes in Thought (ACT) Study. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Onchee Yu.

Clinicial Trials Network Health Systems Node Secondary Manuscripts

A 1-year, $289,776 grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Major goals: To support secondary papers using existing data from Clinical Trials Network (CTN) studies with funding from the CTN core budget. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Katharine Bradley.

Development of an Individualized Risk Prediction Model for Contralateral Breast Cancer Using BCSC Data

A 1-year, $15,000 grant from the National Cancer Institute. Major goals: To develop a model for predicting absolute risk of contralateral breast cancer based on pre-operative risk factors using data from the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium (BCSC). The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Gaia Pocobelli.

Public Health Institute, National Leadership Academy for the Public's Health Cohort 14

A 1-year, $10,000 grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Major goals: To understand the impact of training provided through the National Leadership Academy for the Public's Health (NLAPH) and identify any opportunities for improvement. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Maggie Jones.

Supplemental Ultrasound Screening Extension — Additional Work Related to Supplemental Ultrasound

A 1-year, $16,000 grant from the University of Vermont. Major goals: To evaluate the effectiveness of supplemental ultrasound screening (SUS) for women with dense breasts by preparing datasets for analysis, planning and executing data analyses, and assisting in the development of scientific manuscripts addressing ultrasound screening effectiveness. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Laura Ichikawa.

A 2-year, $496,917 grant from Pfizer. Major goals: The purpose of this study is to assess the safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of mRNA influenza and COVID-19 vaccine candidates administered as a single injection in healthy participants 18 years of age and older. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Lisa Jackson. 

Rosemary Collaboratory–USA: Leveraging Data to Make Health Systems More Inclusive of People with Intellectual Disabilities

A 1-year, $50,000 grant from Special Olympics, Inc. Major goals: The major goal of this project is to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of federal health system policies to assess their inclusiveness for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, utilizing a mixed-methods approach that integrates policy analysis, stakeholder engagement, and an equity lens to identify systemic barriers and actionable opportunities for improving health outcomes and access for this population. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Melissa Trapp Petty.

A 1-year, $277,000 grant from the California Health Care Foundation. Major goals: The major goal of this project is to evaluate the outcomes of a caregiver training for home caregivers developed by CareAcademy. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Natasha Arora. 

Identifying Predictors of a Delayed Breast Cancer Diagnosis

A 1-year, $53,000 grant from the University of Washington. Major goals: The major goal of this project is to identify predictors of delayed breast cancer diagnosis after screening mammography. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Yu-Ru Su. 

Anti-Obesity Medication Genetic Risk Score Pilot

A 1-year, $16,594 grant from KPWHRI Small Grants Program. Major goals: The major goal of this project is to evaluate whether the Phenomix MyPhenome genetic risk subtypes are predictive of weight loss at 12 months after initiation of anti-obesity medications using data from the Kaiser Permanente National Research Bank. We will be partnering with Mayo Clinic (Dr. Andres Acosta) and Phenomix, which will be providing funding to acquire the data from the Kaiser Permanente National Research Bank. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is David Arterburn. 

Improving Sleep Problems in the Elderly: Patient Preference Regarding Implementation and Intervention Design

A 1-year, $16,695 grant from KPWHRI Small Grants Program. Major goals: To gather pilot data for a larger National Institutes of Health proposal. We will collect in-depth qualitative interviews with 10 to 15 patients who have subjective sleep concerns. We will recruit primarily through Senior Caucus and/or secondary sources of the Kaiser Permanente Washington Sleep Clinic and patient engagement resources, or through electronic health records if needed. We will record and transcribe the interviews and qualitatively analyze the data to inform our intervention approach. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Dori Rosenberg. 

Social Health Screening Pathways Build

A 1-year, $16,695 grant from KPWHRI Small Grants Program. Major goals: The goal is to design and build a flag within Epic to identify social health screening pathways that will enable future embedded social health research. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Meagan Brown. 

A 5-year, $502,750 grant from the National Cancer Institute. Major goals: To test in a large randomized controlled trial the efficacy of a novel mHealth app designed specifically for smokers who are not yet ready to quit smoking. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Andrea Cook.

Impacts of Access to Services for Alcohol Use Disorders in Older Adults

A 2-year, $144,628 grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Major goals: To develop knowledge that will assess the problem of undertreatment of alcohol use disorders in older adults by examining access to care among Medicare Advantage enrollees. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Joseph Glass.

Oakland Resiliency Evaluation

A 4-year, $399,999 grant from Kaiser Permanente Northern California. Major goals: The Oakland Resilience Plan builds on Kaiser Permanente’s legacy of grants, sponsorships, and community partnerships in Oakland, averaging $8 million to $10 million in annual investments. The evaluation goals are to:

1. Describe Kaiser Permanente investments and funded activities, with a specific focus on investments in resilience for small and diverse businesses, and health care access (that is, safety net grants).
2. Highlight successes that can be leveraged to communicate results, improve outcomes, support sustainability, and inform future investments
3. Support learning and program improvement through sharing successes, challenges, and solutions

The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Elena Kuo.

Observational Research on the Impacts and Outcomes of Norovirus (ORION): A Prospective Cohort Study of Adults at Increased Risk of Norovirus Disease in the United States

A 2-year, $614,646 grant from ModernaTX, Inc. Major goals: The major goals of this project are to assess norovirus acute gastroenteritis burden in adults 18 years and older and to examine norovirus acute gastroenteritis severity and impact of quality-of-life indicators. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Lisa Jackson.

Quality Measures to Advance Suicide Prevention and Care Across Health Systems

A 4-year, $554,220 grant from the National Institute of Mental Health. Major goals: In collaboration with the Joint Commission and National Committee for Quality Assurance, develop quality measures for suicide prevention including:

1. Rate of risk assessment with the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) for members who screen positive on item 9 of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9)
2. Rate of Stanley Brown concordant safety planning for members who score >=4 on the C-SSRS
3. Timely outpatient follow-up for members with emergency department or inpatient visits for suicide attempt

The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Robert Penfold.

Sentinel Year 11 (OY2025) Data Partner Work Order: Kaiser Permanente Washington — Infrastructure

A 1-year, $221,205 grant from the Food and Drug Administration. Major goals: The major goals of this work order are to conduct the querying tasks required for Sentinel Data Partners (DPs) in operational year (OY) 2025. Routine querying involves execution of analytic packages, sometimes supplemented with minimal amounts of custom coding developed by the Sentinel Operations Center (SOC), against a DP’s production Sentinel Distributed Database. DPs will receive query requests and be asked to “opt in” by executing the routine query and transmitting aggregated results back to the SOC. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Gaia Pocobelli.

Sentinel Year 11 (OY2025) Data Partner Work Order: Kaiser Permanente Washington — Querying

A 1-year, $70,701 grant from the Food and Drug Administration. Major goals: The major goals of this work order are to conduct the querying tasks required for Sentinel Data Partners (DPs) in operational year (OY) 2025. Routine querying involves execution of analytic packages, sometimes supplemented with minimal amounts of custom coding developed by the Sentinel Operations Center (SOC), against a DP’s production Sentinel Distributed Database. DPs will receive query requests and be asked to “opt in” by executing the routine query and transmitting aggregated results back to the SOC. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Gaia Pocobelli.

A Hospital-based Treatment Engagement Program for Alcohol Use Disorder

A 1-year, $63,500 grant from University of Washington. Major goals: Partner with local community members who have lived experience with AUD and hospitalized patients who require treatment for alcohol withdrawal (a diagnostic criterion for AUD) to create and evaluate a hospital-based treatment engagement program for AUD. This project’s participatory methods and results will facilitate a sustainable, evidence-based approach to engaging hospitalized patients in AUD treatment and will inform a future multicenter trial of hospital-based treatment for alcohol withdrawal and engagement in long-term AUD care (K23 PI Steel, planned R01). The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Marlaine Figueroa Gray.

Screening Outcomes in Women with High-Risk Breast Tensions Including Lobular Cancer In-Situ: Evidence to Inform Risk-Adapted Screening Practice and Policy 

A 2-year, $100,000 grant from National Breast Cancer Foundation Australia. Major goals: To assess the accuracy and outcomes of screening in women with high-risk breast lesions, 1) by screening frequency, the woman’s overall risk and risk of advanced breast cancer, and lesion type, and 2) by comparison of imaging modalities. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Laura Ichikawa.

DOH Vaccine Confidence Funding-Vax During Pregnancy Project (Immunity Community Lite)

A 1-year, $57,873 grant from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Major goals: To develop an app concept that builds on the current Immunity Community model and incorporates the adaptations needed to ensure increased accessibility for providers and parents. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Clarissa Hsu. 

DOH Vaccine Confidence Funding-Vax During Pregnancy Project (Provider Survey KII and Patient Focus Group)

A 1-year, $317,905 grant from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Major goals: To conduct a mixed methods needs assessment including surveys and key informant interviews of prenatal/perinatal care providers and focus groups with pregnant people in Washington to assess the current concerns, practices, barriers and benefits of vaccination during pregnancy. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Clarissa Hsu.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​