“Obesity is the number-one health problem in the United States because it negatively affects our population’s health more than any other condition,” said Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute senior investigator David Arterburn, MD, MPH. Kaiser Permanente Washington researchers are doing practical research to learn how doctors, patients, families, employers, and policymakers can best work together to prevent and treat obesity.
“We’re focusing on three ways to halt the obesity epidemic,” said associate investigator Dori Rosenberg, PhD, MPH. “We’re helping to change obesity-promoting environments, bringing evidence-based prevention and treatment programs into health care systems, and helping people develop lifelong healthy diet and activity habits.”
Kaiser Permanente Washington obesity research areas include:
“Obesity is caused by many factors, so at Kaiser Permanente Washington, we’re working on many levels,” said Paula Lozano, MD, MPH, a senior investigator and Kaiser Permanente Washington’s assistant medical director for preventive care. “We’re improving health care to help people who are obese now. But since obesity is a societal problem, we’re also studying how to change our homes and workplaces and neighborhoods to create more healthy environments.”
Ludman EJ, Ichikawa LE, Simon GE, Rohde P, Arterburn D, Operskalski BH, Linde JA, Jeffery RW. Breast and cervical cancer screening specific effects of depression and obesity. Am J Prev Med. 2010;38(3):303-10. PubMed
Ludman EJ, Russo JE, Katon WJ, Simon GE, Williams LH, Lin EH, Heckbert SR, Ciechanowski P, Young BA. How does change in depressive symptomatology influence weight change in patients with diabetes? Observational results from the Pathways longitudinal cohort. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2010 Jan;65(1):93-8. Epub 2009 Oct 12. PubMed
Ma Q, Shambhu S, Arterburn DE, McTigue KM, Haynes K. Interventions and operations after bariatric surgery in a health plan research network cohort from the PCORnet, the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network. Obes Surg. 2021 Aug;31(8):3531-3540. doi: 10.1007/s11695-021-05417-7. Epub 2021 Apr 20. PubMed
Maciejewski ML, Arterburn DE, Berkowitz TSZ, Weidenbacher HJ, Liu CF, Olsen MK, Funk LM, Mitchell JE, Smith VA. Geographic variation in obesity, behavioral treatment, and bariatric surgery for veterans. Obesity (Silver Spring).2019 Jan;27(1):161-165. doi: 10.1002/oby.22350. Epub 2018 Nov 13. PubMed
Maciejewski ML, Arterburn DE, Van Scoyoc L, Smith VA, Yancy WS Jr, Weidenbacher HJ, Livingston EH, Olsen MK. Bariatric surgery and long-term durability of weight loss. JAMA Surg. 2016 Aug 31. doi: 10.1001/jamasurg.2016.2317 [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
David E. Arterburn, MD, MPHSenior Investigator |
Paula Lozano, MD, MPHSenior Investigator; Director, ACT Center |
Allen Cheadle, PhDSenior Investigator, KPWHRI; Senior Research Associate, CCHE |
Dori E. Rosenberg, PhD, MPHSenior Scientific Investigator |
Gregory E. Simon, MD, MPHSenior Investigator |
Andrea J. Cook, PhDSenior Biostatistics Investigator |
Beverly B. Green, MD, MPHSenior Investigator |
Maricela Cruz, PhDAssistant Biostatistics Investigator |
Mikael Anne Greenwood-Hickman, MPHCollaborative Scientist |
Laurel Hansell, MA, MPHCollaborative Scientist |
Nicole M. Gatto, PhD, MPHPrincipal Collaborative Scientist |