“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.”
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. 2020 Nov 17. doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000004526. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Moore DD, Arterburn DE, Bai Y, Cornejo M, Crawford CL, Drewnowski A, Gray MF, Ji M, Lewis KH, Paz S, Taylor B, Yoon TK, Young DR, Coleman KJ. The Bariatric Experience Long Term (BELONG): factors related to having bariatric surgery in a large integrated healthcare system. Obes Surg. 2020 Oct 30. doi: 10.1007/s11695-020-05045-7. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Arterburn DE, Toh S, Williams N, Anau J, Courcoulas A, Tavakkoli A, Stilwell D, Tuzzio L, Lewis CC, Wilcox MN, McTigue KM. Translating stakeholder-driven comparative effectiveness research into practice: the PCORnet Bariatric Study. J Comp Eff Res. 2020 Oct 1. doi: 10.2217/cer-2020-0156. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Namjou B, Stanaway IB, Lingren T, Mentch FD, Benoit B, Dikilitas O, Niu X, Shang N, Shoemaker AH, Carey DJ, Mirshahi T, Singh R, Nestor JG, Hakonarson H, Denny JC, Crosslin DR, Jarvik GP, Kullo IJ, Williams MS, Harley JB. Evaluation of the MC4R gene across eMERGE network identifies many unreported obesity-associated variants. Int J Obes (Lond). 2020 Sep 20. doi: 10.1038/s41366-020-00675-4. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Lewis KH, Callaway K, Argetsinger S, Wallace J, Arterburn DE, Zhang F, Fernandez A, Ross-Degnan D, Dimick JB, Wharam JF. Concurrent hiatal hernia repair and bariatric surgery: outcomes after sleeve gastrectomy and Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. Surg Obes Relat Dis. 2020 Sep 3:S1550-7289(20)30503-7. doi: 10.1016/j.soard.2020.08.035. PubMed
![]() David E. Arterburn, MD, MPHSenior Investigator, KPWHRI; Physician, Washington Permanente Medical Group, Internal Medicine |
![]() Paula Lozano, MD, MPHSenior Investigator, Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute |
![]() Allen Cheadle, PhDSenior Research Associate, Center for Community Health & Evaluation; Senior Investigator, KPWHRI |
![]() Dori E. Rosenberg, PhD, MPHAssociate 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, MPHResearch Associate II |