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):
Yeboah J, Sillau S, Delaney JC, Blaha MJ, Michos ED, Young R, Qureshi WT, McClelland R, Burke GL, Psaty BM, Herrington DM. Implications of the new American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association cholesterol guidelines for primary atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease event prevention in a multi ethnic cohort: Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). Am Heart J. 2015;169(3):387-395.e3. doi: 10.1016/j.ahj.2014.12.018. Epub 2015 Jan 6. PubMed
Yeboah J, Young R, McClelland RL, Delaney JC, Polonsky TS, Dawood FZ, Blaha MJ, Miedema MD, Sibley CT, Carr JJ, Burke GL, Goff DC Jr, Psaty BM, Greenland P, Herrington DM. Utility of nontraditional risk markers in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk assessment. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2016;67(2):139-47. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2015.10.058. PubMed
Yi CJ, Wu CO, Tee M, Liu CY, Volpe GJ, Prince MR, Hundley GW, Gomes AS, van der Geest RJ, Heckbert S, Lima JA, Bluemke DA. The association between cardiovascular risk and cardiovascular magnetic resonance measures of fibrosis: the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). J Cardiovasc Magn Reson. 2015 Feb 12;17(1):15. doi: 10.1186/s12968-015-0121-5. PubMed
Young LE, Cunningham SL, Buist DS. Lone mothers are at higher risk for cardiovascular disease compared with partnered mothers. Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III (NHANES III). Health Care Women Int. 2005;26(7):604-21. PubMed
Yu B, Barbalic M, Brautbar A, Nambi V, Hoogeveen RC, Tang W, Mosley TH, Rotter JI, Defilippi CR, O'Donnell CJ, Kathiresan S, Rice K, Heckbert SR, Ballantyne CM, Psaty BM, Boerwinkle E. Association of genome-wide variation with highly sensitive cardiac troponin-t (hs-ctnt) levels in European- and African-Americans: a meta-analysis from The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities and The Cardiovascular Health Studies. Circ Cardiovasc Genet. 2013 Feb;6(1):82-8. doi: 10.1161/CIRCGENETICS.112.963058. Epub 2012 Dec 16. 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