Vaccines save lives by protecting people against infectious diseases—polio, influenza, and malaria to name a few. Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI) is working to protect communities through research to continually improve the safety and effectiveness of vaccines and other treatments for infectious diseases as well as cancer. We also test new vaccines that may stop the threat of emerging diseases such as the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), which causes COVID-19.
Our research projects on vaccines and infectious diseases include:
Successes over 3 decades of KPWHRI research on vaccines and preventing and treating infectious disease include:
Somayaji R, Neradilek MB, Szpiro AA, Lofy KH, Jackson ML, Goss CH, Duchin JS, Neuzil KM, Ortiz JR. Effects of air pollution and other environmental exposures on estimates of severe influenza illness, Washington, USA. Emerg Infect Dis. 2020;26(5):920-9. doi: 10.3201/eid2605.190599. PubMed
Chu HY, Englund JA, Starita LM, Famulare M, Brandstetter E, Nickerson DA, Rieder MJ, Adler A, Lacombe K, Kim AE, Graham C, Logue J, Wolf CR, Heimonen J, McCulloch DJ, Han PD, Sibley TR, Lee J, Ilcisin M, Fay K, Burstein R, Martin B, Lockwood CM, Thompson M, Lutz B, Jackson M, Hughes JP, Boeckh M, Shendure J, Bedford T; Seattle Flu Study Investigators. Early detection of Covid-19 through a citywide pandemic surveillance platform. N Engl J Med. 2020 Jul 9;383(2):185-187. doi: 10.1056/NEJMc2008646. Epub 2020 May 1. PubMed
Smith ER, Fry AM, Hicks LA, Fleming-Dutra KE, Flannery B, Ferdinands J, Rolfes MA, Martin ET, Monto AS, Zimmerman RK, Nowalk MP, Jackson ML, McLean HQ, Olson SC, Gaglani M, Patel MM. Reducing antibiotic use in ambulatory care through influenza vaccination. Clin Infect Dis. 2020 Apr 23. pii: ciaa464. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciaa464. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Lewnard JA, Liu VX, Jackson ML, Schmidt MA, Jewell BL, Flores JP, Jentz C, Northrup GR, Mahmud A, Reingold AL, Petersen M, Jewell NP, Young S, Bellows J. Incidence, clinical outcomes, and transmission dynamics of hospitalized 2019 coronavirus disease among 9,596,321 individuals residing in California and Washington, United States: a prospective cohort study. medRxiv. April 16, 2020.doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.12.20062943.
Balasubramani GK, Nowalk MP, Sax TM, Suyama J, Bobyock E, Rinaldo CR Jr, Martin ET, Monto AS, Jackson ML, Gaglani MJ, Flannery B, Chung JR, Zimmerman RK. Influenza vaccine effectiveness among outpatients in the US Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness Network by study site 2011-2016. Influenza Other Respir Viruses. 2020 Apr 16. doi: 10.1111/irv.12741. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
![]() Lisa A. Jackson, MD, MPHSenior Investigator |
![]() Jennifer C. Nelson, PhDDirector of Biostatistics; Senior Investigator |
![]() Michael L. Jackson, PhD, MPHSenior Investigator |
![]() Andrea J. Cook, PhDSenior Investigator |
![]() Sascha Dublin, MD, PhDSenior Investigator |
![]() Onchee Yu, MSBiostatistician III |
![]() Robert D. Wellman, MSBiostatistician III |
Doug Opel, MD, MPH
University of Washington (UW) Department of Bioethics and Humanities; UW Department of Pediatrics; UW Medical Center
John Dunn, MD, MPH
Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Washington
Elizabeth Lin, MD, MPH
Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Washington Family Practice;
Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute