Laura B. Harrington, PhD, MPH
“My research aims to improve our understanding of modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular events and sequelae and outcomes relevant to brain health, especially among women.”
Laura B. Harrington, PhD, MPH
Associate Investigator, Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute
Affiliate Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington School of Public Health
Assistant Professor, Department of Health Systems Science, Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine
Laura.B.Harrington@kp.org
206-287-2066
Biography
Laura B. Harrington, PhD, MPH, is an epidemiologist with expertise in cardiovascular epidemiology, the epidemiology of aging, and women’s health. As an Associate Investigator at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI), her work leverages pharmacologic, medical-record based, lifestyle-based, and sex-specific exposure data to better understand associations between modifiable risk factors and cardiovascular and aging-related outcomes. She has particular interest and expertise in risk factors for incident and recurrent venous thromboembolism, in cardiovascular associations with brain health, and in sex-specific risk factors (e.g. endogenous sex hormone levels, vasomotor symptoms, hormone therapy use, characteristics of the menopause transition). She leads studies set in Kaiser Permanente Washington-based populations and existing epidemiologic cohort studies including the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), the Adult Change in Thought (ACT) study, the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS), the Nurses’ Health Studies (NHS) I and II, the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, and the Heart and Vascular Health (HVH) case-control study. Dr. Harrington is actively leading a new National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute-funded inception cohort study of venous thromboembolism sequelae, the After Venous Thromboembolism Research (AFTER) Study.
Prior to joining KPWHRI in 2018, Dr. Harrington completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, earned her PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Washington, and her MPH in Epidemiology from the University of Michigan.
In addition to her role at KPWHRI, Dr. Harrington enjoys mentoring students and guest lecturing in her roles as Affiliate Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Washington School of Public Health and Assistant Professor of Health Systems Science at the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine.
RESEARCH INTERESTS AND EXPERIENCE
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Cardiovascular Health
Venous thromboembolism; lifestyle-based risk factors (e.g., physical activity, sedentary behavior); pharmacologic risk factors; women’s cardiovascular health
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Women's Health
Endogenous sex hormones; oral contraceptive and hormone therapy use; characteristics of the menopause transition; adverse pregnancy outcomes and long-term women’s health outcomes
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Aging & Geriatrics
Cardiovascular risk factors and events in relation to brain health
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Medication Use & Patient Safety
Comparative safety studies; pharmacoepidemiology; prescription use in relation to cardiovascular and aging-related outcomes; oral contraceptive and hormone therapy use
Recent publications
Floyd JS, Walker RL, Kuntz JL, Shortreed SM, Fortmann SP, Bayliss EA, Harrington LB, Fuller S, Albertson-Junkans LH, Powers JD, Lee MH, Temposky LA, Dublin S. Association between diabetes severity and risks of COVID-19 infection and outcomes. J Gen Intern Med.2023 May;38(6):1484-1492. doi: 10.1007/s11606-023-08076-9. Epub 2023 Feb 16. PubMed
Lo Re V 3rd, Dutcher SK, Connolly JG, Perez-Vilar S, Carbonari DM, DeFor TA, Djibo DA, Harrington LB, Hou L, Hennessy S, Hubbard RA, Kempner ME, Kuntz JL, McMahill-Walraven CN, Mosley J, Pawloski PA, Petrone AB, Pishko AM, Rogers Driscoll M, Steiner +++. Risk of admission to hospital with arterial or venous thromboembolism among patients diagnosed in the ambulatory setting with covid-19 compared with influenza: retrospective cohort study. BMJ Med. 2023 Jun 6;2(1):e000421. doi: 10.1136/bmjmed-2022-000421. eCollection 2023. PubMed
Lo Re V 3rd, Dutcher SK, Connolly JG, Perez-Vilar S, Carbonari DM, DeFor TA, Djibo DA, Harrington LB, Hou L, Hennessy S, Hubbard RA, Kempner ME, Kuntz JL, McMahill-Walraven CN, Mosley J, Pawloski PA, Petrone AB, Pishko AM, Driscoll MR, Steiner CA, Zhou Y, Cocoros NM. Association of COVID-19 vs influenza with risk of arterial and venous thrombotic events among hospitalized patients. JAMA. 2022 Aug 16;328(7):637-651. doi: 10.1001/jama.2022.13072. PubMed
Lidstrom SC, Wiggins KL, Harrington LB, McKnight B, Blondon M, Smith NL. Incident thrombus location and predicting risk of recurrent venous thromboembolism. Res Pract Thromb Haemost. 2022 26;6(5):e12762. doi: 10.1002/rth2.12762. eCollection 2022 Jul. PubMed
Shortreed SM, Gray R, Akosile MA, Walker RL, Fuller S, Temposky L, Fortmann SP, Albertson-Junkans L, Floyd JS, Bayliss EA, Harrington LB, Lee MH, Dublin S. Increased COVID-19 infection risk drives racial and ethnic disparities in severe COVID-19 outcomes. J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2022 Jan 24. doi: 10.1007/s40615-021-01205-2. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Research
COVID risks not meaningfully greater with estrogen-containing medications
Oral contraceptives, hormone therapy not linked to more severe COVID outcomes.
Research
Study finds bariatric surgery linked to substantially lower risk of blood clots long-term
Largest study to date helps patients weigh risks and benefits of surgery.
Healthy findings blog
New grant boosts research on cardiovascular disease
Epidemiologist Laura B. Harrington, PhD, MPH, speaks about working in cardiovascular and aging research.
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