Heart disease is the leading cause of death for Americans. Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI) scientists are working to understand how to reduce our risk of heart attacks, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases throughout life.
Addressing risk factors, improving diagnosis, and exploring how medications, genes, and everyday life affect our cardiovascular health at different ages and stages are central to this work — as is translating research findings into practical, personalized care.
“We’ve found that helping patients and health care teams work together on personalized care plans is the best path to lifelong heart health,” says Beverly Green, MD, MPH, whose recent work has focused on improving the diagnosis of high blood pressure.
Additional focus areas for KPWHRI scientists include exploring the impact of cardiovascular diseases on other health conditions — and vice versa. Recently, this has led researchers Sascha Dublin, MD, PhD, and Laura B. Harrington, PhD, MPH, to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular health.
Below are other research highlights from KPWHRI’s cardiovascular health scientists (please visit their bios to learn more):
Harrington LB, Benz L, Haneuse S, Johnson E, Coleman KJ, Courcoulas AP, Li RA, Theis MK, Cooper J, Chin PL, Grinberg GG, Daigle CR, Chang JH, Um SS, Yenumula PR, Getty JZ, Arterburn DE. Bariatric Surgery and the Long-Term Risk of Venous Thromboembolism: A Population-Based Cohort Study. Obes Surg. 2024;34(6):2017-2025. doi: 10.1007/s11695-024-07236-y. Epub 2024 Apr 30. PubMed
Zablocki RW, Hartman SJ, Di C, Zou J, Carlson JA, Hibbing PR, Rosenberg DE, Greenwood-Hickman MA, Dillon L, LaCroix AZ, Natarajan L. Using functional principal component analysis (FPCA) to quantify sitting patterns derived from wearable sensors. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2024;21(1):48. doi: 10.1186/s12966-024-01585-8. PubMed
Rosenberg DE, Zhu W, Greenwood-Hickman MA, Cook AJ, Florez Acevedo S, McClure JB, Arterburn DE, Cooper J, Owen N, Dunstan D, Perry SR, Yarborough L, Mettert KD, Green BB. Sitting Time Reduction and Blood Pressure in Older Adults: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2024;7(3):e243234. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.3234. PubMed
Green BB. Self-measured blood pressure monitoring: challenges and opportunities. Am J Hypertens. 2024 Feb 5:hpae015. doi: 10.1093/ajh/hpae015. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Hall YN, Anderson ML, McClure JB, Ehrlich K, Hansell LD, Hsu CW, Margolis KL, Munson SA, Thompson MJ, Green BB. Relationship of blood pressure, health behaviors, and new diagnosis and control of hypertension in the BP-CHECK Study. Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes. 2024;17(2):e010119. doi: 10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.123.010119. Epub 2024 Feb 8. PubMed
Sascha Dublin, MD, PhDSenior Investigator |
Beverly B. Green, MD, MPHSenior Investigator |
Laura Harrington, PhD, MPHAssistant Investigator |
Ellen O'Meara, PhDPrincipal Collaborative Scientist |
Nicole M. Gatto, PhD, MPHPrincipal Collaborative Scientist |
Meagan C. Brown, PhD, MPHAssistant Investigator |
James Floyd, MD, MS
Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology
University of Washington
Susan Heckbert, MD, PhD
University of Washington (UW) Department of Epidemiology; UW Cardiovascular Health Research Unit
Nicholas L. Smith, PhD, MPH
UW Professor, Epidemiology, Cardiovascular Health Research Unit
Director, Seattle Epidemiology and Information Resource Center, VA Puget Sound Health Care System