“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.”
Callaway K, Argetsinger S, Wharam JF, Zhang F, Arterburn DE, Fernandez A, Ross-Degnan D, Wallace J, Lewis KH. Acute care utilization and costs up to 4 years after index sleeve gastrectomy or Roux-en-Y gastric bypass: a national claims-based study. Ann Surg. 2023 Jan 1;277(1):e78-e86. doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000004972. Epub 2021 Jun 7. PubMed
Callegari LS, Nelson KM, Arterburn DE, Prager SW, Schiff MA, Schwarz EB. Factors associated with lack of effective contraception among obese women in the United States. Contraception. 2014 Sep;90(3):265-71. doi: 10.1016/j.contraception.2014.05.005. Epub 2014 May 14. PubMed
Carpenter KM, Lovejoy JC, Lange JM, Hapgood JE, Zbikowski SM. Outcomes and utilization of a low intensity workplace weight loss program. J Obes. 2014;2014:414987. doi: 10.1155/2014/414987. Epub 2014 Jan 2. PubMed
Chao GF, Chhabra KR, Yang J, Thumma JR, Arterburn DE, Ryan AM, Telem DA, Dimick JB. Bariatric surgery in Medicare patients: examining safety and healthcare utilization in the disabled and elderly. Ann Surg. 2022 Jul 1;276(1):133-139. doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000004526. Epub 2020 Nov 17. PubMed
Chao GF, Yang J, Peahl A, Thumma JR, Dimick JB, Arterburn DE, Telem DA. Births after bariatric surgery in the United States: incidence, obstetric outcomes, and reinterventions. Ann Surg. 2023 Apr 1;277(4):e801-e807. doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000005438. Epub 2022 Jun 28. 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 |