December 2015

GHRI recently received word of 11 new awards.

Cancer Intervention and Surveillance Modeling Network (CISNET) - Colorectal Cancer (CRC)

A five-year, $489,695 grant from National Cancer Institute. Major Goals: New modes of colorectal cancer prevention, screening, and treatment offer the potential to reduce the burden of disease. However, the ability to prioritize dissemination can be hampered by difficulties in synthesizing different sources of information (expert opinion, epidemiologic studies, randomized trials). This project will use microsimulation models to identify effective policies to reduce the burden of CRC and facilitate implementation of these policies by improving dissemination of the insights acquired from our simulation models. The GHRI lead investigator is Jessica Chubak

Depression and Suicidal Ideation in Psoriasis and Ankylosing Spondylitis

A two-month, $349,169 grant from Novartis. Major Goals: To examine the prevalence of depression, suicidal ideation, and suicidal behavior in people with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. The principal investigator is Robert Penfold.

Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Population-level Strategy to Promote Treatment Uptake and Smoking Cessation in an Insured Population

A seven-month, $49,331 grant from the Group Health Foundation. Major Goals: To evaluate the effectiveness of a population-level strategy to promote treatment uptake and smoking cessation in an insured population. The principal investigator is Jennifer B. McClure.

Evaluation of the Medicaid Innovation Accelerator Program Technical Assistance Activities

A three-year, $371,269 grant from Centers for Medicaid & Medicare. Major Goals: To carry out an independent evaluation of the Medicaid Innovation Accelerator Program intervention,  a joint collaboration between the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation and the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services to further health reform efforts by state Medicaid programs. This project will evaluate the effectiveness of providing technical assistance in the subject areas of: Substance Use Disorders, Beneficiaries with Complex Needs, Community Integration to Support Long-term Services and Supports, and Physical and Mental Health Integration. The MacColl Center for Health Care Innovation will participate in Beneficiaries with Complex Needs and Physical and Mental Health Integration. The GHRI lead investigator is Judith Schaefer.

Evidence-based Practice Center V

A three-year, $346,074 grant from Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Major Goals: To support the US Preventive Services Task Force by conducting and completing a systematic review on the topic of Skin Cancer Counseling. The GHRI lead investigator is Nora Henrikson.

Health Leads Evaluation - Contra Costa Regional Medical Center

A one-year, $209,657 grant from Kaiser Foundation Health Plan. Major Goals: To evaluate the impact of a program to refer safety net clinic patients to community resources. The principal investigator is Clarissa Hsu.

Kaiser Permanente & Strategic Partners Patient Outcomes Research to Advance Learning (PORTAL) Network

A five-month, $13,776 grant from Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. The GHRI lead investigator is David E. Arterburn.

MsFLASH: Living a Healthy Menopause

A five-year, $1,079,992 grant from National Institute on Aging. Major Goals: Specific Aim 1: Conduct a multi-site, three-arm, randomized, controlled, double-blind clinical trial of ultra-low-dose vaginal estradiol (Vagifem 10 mcg), non-hormonal hydrophilic non-prescriptive vaginal gel (Replens) and placebo to evaluate effectiveness in reducing a composite score of vaginal symptoms (dryness, itching, burning, pain, or dyspareunia) among postmenopausal women ages 45-70. Specific Aim 2: Develop comprehensive, state-of-the-art, tailored, multi-media materials to translate and disseminate available evidence to facilitate informed decision-making for managing menopausal symptoms. The GHRI lead investigator is Katherine M. Newton.

Partnership for Innovation Gestational Diabetes

A two-year, $279,889 grant from Group Health Foundation. Major Goals: To evaluate the effect of Group Health’s clinical guideline change governing gestational diabetes mellitus screening and treatment on measurable: 1) benefits (or possibly harms) for pregnant women and infants; and 2) healthcare costs. The principal investigator is Sascha Dublin.

RSV-E-301: A Phase III Randomized, Observer-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study To Demonstrate The Efficacy Of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Recombinant F in Adults >60 Years of Age

A five-year, $700,000 grant from Novavax, Inc. Major Goals: To study the efficacy of an RSV vaccine in adults >60 years old. The principal investigator is Lisa A. Jackson.

Take Active Breaks from Sitting (TABS): Reducing Sedentary Time in Obese Older Adults

A two-year, $440,000 grant from National Institutes of Health. Major Goals: To explore a new approach to improving the health of obese older adults, who are at high risk for having or developing chronic health conditions, by focusing on reducing sitting time. The principal investigator is Dori E. Rosenberg


November 2015

GHRI recently received word of 16 new awards.

2014 Sentinel Infrastructure Task Order Activity 1—Create and Maintain the Sentinel Distributed Database (SDD) Quarterly

A one-year, $138,142 grant from the Food and Drug Administration.  Major goals: To update the Sentinel Distributed Database on a regular basis and to work with the Coordinating Center to establish a permanent, sustainable solution to ensure the consistency of the “Unique Member Identifier” field. Group Health will finalize the harmonization and characterization processes initiated on the pool of existing clinical data elements implemented by end of (Mini-Sentinel) Year 6 and analyze and characterize these existing clinical data elements to inform best use of these data in regular SDD queries. The GHRI lead investigator is Denise M. Boudreau

2014 Sentinel Infrastructure Task Order Activity 2—Prepare and Update Summary Tables to Support the Distributed Query Tool, Test Query Tool Revisions, and Test Programs

A one-year, $55,649 grant from the Food and Drug Administration.  Major goals: To create summary tables by executing SAS programs written by the Statistical Coordinating Center designed to run against the Sentinel Distributed Database. As necessary updates to the PopMedNet platform are released, Data Partners will be responsible for updating their local Query Tool/PopMedNet Data Mart Client to run against the newly-created summary tables. The GHRI lead investigator is Denise M. Boudreau

2014 Sentinel Infrastructure Task Order Activity 3—Establish Capacity to Implement Medical Product Routine Surveillance

A one-year, $138,238 grant from the Food and Drug Administration.  Major goals: To establish capacity to be active in all Data Core activities and to be responsible for establishing and maintaining the administrative and technical capability to respond to Statistical Coordinating Center requests.  Group Health should establish capacity to participate in up to five prospective surveillance projects. Each prospective surveillance project may require the execution of one MPL3 request per approved Sentinel Distributed Database (SDD) update and one additional MPL3 request for exploratory/feasibility purposes, with sequential executions timed with SDD update approvals. The GHRI lead investigator is Denise M. Boudreau

2014 Sentinel Infrastructure Task Order—Core lead (Methods)

A one-year, $115,774 grant from the Food and Drug Administration.  Major goals: To oversee the activities of the Methods Core, provide support to Data Partners, and ensure the Year 2 tasks are met. The core co-lead will work closely with the FDA, Data Partners, and the Sentinel Operations Center to facilitate the Year 2 projects and goals. Core co-leads will provide training for FDA staff, visit FDA if needed, and provide leadership and support to FDA in developing the Sentinel activities of Year 2. Core leaders are expected to attend Methods Core, Data Partners, Planning Board, and Core leaders conference calls. The GHRI lead investigator is Jennifer C. Nelson

ALL PHASE Dashboard and Regional Data Support

An eight-month, $20,000 grant from the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan.  Major goals: To provide transition support to Kaiser Permanente's National Community Benefit Program Office to complete its quarterly Safety Net Dashboard and to provide evaluation/data-related technical assistance to the three regions implementing ALL/PHASE programs. The principal investigator is Maggie Jones

Comparative Modeling—Informing Breast Cancer Control Practice and Policy

A five-year, $159,854 grant from the National Cancer Institute.  Major goals: To optimize/enhance screening by considering advances in cancer control in two areas: polygenic genetic risk, emerging technologies (e.g., tomo); both linked to risk of developing a particular molecular sub-type of tumor based on ER/HER2. The GHRI lead investigator is Diana S. Buist

Current and Future Costs of Alzheimer's and Dementia Care

A four-year, $396,670 grant from the National Institute on Aging.  Major goals: To estimate the direct and indirect costs associated with dementia and Alzheimer's disease patient care. The GHRI lead investigator is Paul A. Fishman

Estimating Overdiagnosis in Cancer Screening Studies

A four-year, $200,309 grant from the National Cancer Institute.  Major goals: The goal of this project is to develop appropriate statistical methods for estimating overdiagnosis rates for breast and prostate cancer screening. The GHRI lead investigator is Ellen O'Meara

Innovative Video: How a Novel Approach to Engage Patients with Alcohol Use Disorders in Care Transformed Two Registered Nurses (RNs)

A three-month, $31,638 grant from Group Health Research Institute.  Major goals: To produce a 10-minute video that will include the CHOICE RNs being interviewed about how they learned to engage primary care patients with alcohol-use disorders in a patient-centered way and how it transformed their approach to primary care patients with alcohol use disorders. The video will be produced with support from the GHRI Communications Unit. The principal investigator is Katharine A. Bradley

Kaiser Permanente and Strategic Partners Patient Outcomes Phase II

A three-year, $184,272 grant from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute.  Major goals: The PORTAL Phase II proposes to expand cohorts of: 1) patients with a diagnosis of colorectal cancer; 2) adolescents and adults with severe congenital heart disease (CHD); and 3) adults who are overweight or obese, including those who have prediabetes or diabetes. Further, PORTAL will continue to develop and expand the PCORnet Common Data Model infrastructure for observational studies and clinical trials. The GHRI lead investigator is David E. Arterburn

Opioid 1A Supplement Subcontractors Professional Fees Deliverables SOW#4

A two-year, $611,336 grant from Campbell Alliance, Ltd.  Major goals: This supplement is to fund three other Health Care Systems Research Network (HCSRN) sites in developing the process, methods, and tools needed to conduct the Food and Drug Administration’s mandated study on misuse, abuse, and addiction with extended release/long acting opioids. We will develop the infrastructure to recruit subjects, collect primary data, and harmonize electronic medical record data across eight study sites. A pilot study will be conducted and sites will be ready to launch subject recruitment by January 1, 2017. The principal investigator is Denise M. Boudreau

Predictors of Weight Loss Failure and Regain in Bariatric Patients

A five-year, $315,406 grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.  Major goals: The main goal is to, across a three-year follow-up period, determine how demographic, behavioral, psychosocial, and environmental pre-surgical factors and changes in post-surgical behavioral and psychosocial factors predict weight loss and long-term health status. Because so little is known about the factors related to weight loss failure and regain following bariatric surgery, we also propose an exploratory aim to provide more in-depth information about patients who experience these outcomes. The GHRI lead investigator is David E. Arterburn

Preliminary Data for e-Cigarette R01

A three-month, $12,695 grant from Group Health Research Institute Directors’ Project Resource Fund.  Major goals: To hold four focus groups with cancer survivors. We will ask them to provide opinions on how to design a survey and recruitment materials for our R01 application on e-cigarette use in cancer survivors. The principal investigator is Jessica Chubak

RSV-E-301—A Phase III Randomized, Observer-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study to Demonstrate the Efficacy of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Recombinant F in Adults Older Than 60 Years of Age

A five-year, $700,000 grant from Novavax, Inc. The principal investigator is Lisa A. Jackson

SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Registry Study, Phase 4—Washington Center

A five-year, $71,353 grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  Major goals: To collect data on the incidence and prevalence of Type 1 and type 2 diabetes in children and adolescents.  Surveillance of childhood diabetes is essential in order to plan for demands on the health care system and to provide the infrastructure required for future study of the complex etiologies of diabetes and its complications. The GHRI lead investigator is Eric B. Larson

Social Team Feasibility Study—UW PARC

A two-month, $12,706 grant from Group Health Research Institute.  Major goals: To develop and evaluate the impact of social teaming on health behavior change. Our short-term objective is to conduct a pilot study to assess the feasibility of engaging Group Health patients who have chronic conditions in an existing "Nutri-walking" diet and physical activity program on PARC's mobile platform "NUDG" within the context of a social team of peers over two weeks’ The principal investigator is Andrea Hartzler.  


October 2015

GHRI recently received word of 11 new awards.

ARMMS-T2D (Alliance of Randomized Trials of Medicine versus Metabolic Surgery in Type 2 Diabetes)

A two-year, $18,489 grant from National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Major Goals: Investigators from four randomized controlled trials have unified with the intent of developing a cohesive U01 application to support the long-term (7 years) follow-up of 302 patients who were randomized to surgical or non-surgical diabetes management approaches. U34 Specific Aim: Develop documentation for management and oversight of the U01 trial, finalize the protocol, harmonize pre-existing and prospective datasets, complete the Manual of Operations, institute a core laboratory, coordinate guiding principles for the non-surgical treatment groups, develop a detailed budget, establish a safety oversight plan, form an outcome adjudication committee, obtain Institutional Review Board approvals and complete reconsenting at all sites. The deliverable from this process will be a U01 application. The GHRI lead investigator is David E. Arterburn.

Carealign: Patient Goals-Directed Care for Older Adults with Multiple Chronic Conditions Achieved Through Primary/Specialty Care Alignment

A three-year, $46,523 grant from the John A. Hartford Foundation. The GHRI lead investigator is Michael L. Parchman.

Healthcare Georgia Foundation (HGF)-2015 Grantee Survey

A four-month, $11,500 grant from HGF. Major Goals: To implement the HGF 2015 grantee/applicant survey and to provide a summary of results. The principal investigator is Maggie Jones.

Innovative Video: How a Novel Approach to Engage Patients with Alcohol Use Disorders in Care Transformed Two Registered Nurses (RNs)

A three-month, $31,638 grant from Group Health Research Institute. Major Goals: To produce a 10-minute video that will include the CHOICE RNs being interviewed about how they learned to engage primary care patients with alcohol use disorders in a patient-centered way and how it transformed their approach to primary care patients with alcohol use disorders. The video will be produced with support from the GHRI Communications Unit. The principal investigator is Katharine A. Bradley.

Integrating Addiction Research in Health Systems: the Addiction Research Network (ARN)-Supplement

A two-year, $478,412 grant from National Institute on Drug Abuse. Major Goals: 1. Describe rates of drug and marijuana screening across clinics, providers, and patient subgroups, and over time, as well as barriers and facilitators to population-based screening; 2. Assess changes in rates of identification and treatment of drug use and drug use disorders over time (3/2014-2/2016); and 3. Assess whether drug and marijuana use, reported on brief screens, is associated with increased subsequent urgent care, emergency department use, and hospitalization. The GHRI lead investigator is Katharine A. Bradley.

Long-term Benefits and Risks of Bariatric Surgery in Integrated Care Systems

A four-year, $2,744,440 grant from National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Major Goals: The proposed project will be the largest study to date to investigate the long-term relationships between bariatric surgery and durable improvements in body weight, hypertension, and renal disease, as well as association with major operative complications and long-term survival. The study will also compare these outcomes to a population-based cohort of severely obese patients who have not had weight loss surgery and investigate demographic and clinical characteristics (e.g., age, gender, race/ethnicity, bariatric procedure type, type 2 diabetes severity, and other comorbid medical and mental health conditions and their treatments) that may be associated with beneficial and adverse outcomes of surgery. The principal investigator is David E. Arterburn.

Moderate Hypertension in Pregnancy: Safety and Effectiveness of Treatment

A four-year, $3,855,631 grant from National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Major Goals: Study a large cohort of women with hypertensive disorders in pregnancy delivering at three integrated health care delivery systems to carry out the following aims: 1) To evaluate the effect of treatment of mild-to-moderate hypertension in pregnancy (compared to no treatment) on important adverse maternal and infant outcomes, while accounting for differences in blood pressure levels and other factors between the treated and untreated groups; 2) To compare the risks of clinically important outcomes with different antihypertensive medications; and 3) To determine whether benefits and risks vary by maternal race/ethnicity or obesity status. The principal investigator is Sascha Dublin.

Phase I Trial to Evaluate the Safety, Immunogenicity and Preliminary Efficacy of Genetically-Attenuated P52/P36/SAP1-Plasmodium Falciparum Parasites (GAP3KO) Administered via the Bite of Infected Anopheles stephensi Mosquitoes

A four-year, $137,248 grant from National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Major Goals: Implementation, conduct, analysis, completion and oversight of a clinical trial enrolling volunteers in a Phase I trial to evaluate the safety, immunogenicity and preliminary efficacy of GAP3KO administered via the bite of infected A. stephensi mosquitoes to malaria-naïve adults living in the United States. The principal investigator is Lisa A. Jackson.

Preliminary Data for E-Cigarette R01

A three-month, $12,695 grant from Group Health Research Institute Directors Project Resource Fund. Major Goals: To hold four focus groups with cancer survivors to ask their opinions on how to design a survey and recruitment materials for an R01 application on e-cigarette use in cancer survivors. The principal investigator is Jessica Chubak.

Re-Think Health 2015 Pulse Check

A six-month, $35,000 grant from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Major Goals: To conduct a survey of community health coalitions to determine their stage of development. The GHRI lead investigator is Lisa Schafer.

RSV E-202 A Phase II Randomized, Observer-blind, Placebo-controlled Study to Evaluate the Immunogenicity and Safety of a Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Recombinant F Nanoparticle Vaccine in Healthy Older Adult Subjects

A six-year, $1,015,156 grant from Novavax, Inc. Major Goals: To evaluate the immunogenicity and safety of RSV F Vaccine in healthy older participants. The principal investigator is Lisa A. Jackson.


September 2015

GHRI recently received word of 17 new awards.

Alzheimer's Disease Research Center–ADRC

A five-year, $783,856 grant from National Institutes of Health. Major Goals: To evaluate research volunteers from the Adult Changes in Thought (ACT) study according to National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center (NACC) protocol and upload data to the ADRC Clinical Core for review, revised if needed by the ACT study, to be uploaded to the NACC database. The GHRI lead investigator is Eric B. Larson.

Applying Breast Density to Risk Counseling

A four-year, $1,122,052 grant from National Cancer Institute. Major Goals: To understand the additional information of breast density on breast cancer risk and convey information to women to help them understand potential options in mitigating cancer risk. The GHRI lead investigator is Karen Wernli.

Cardiovascular Health and Air Pollution: A National Study

A four-year, $94,534 grant from National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Major Goals: To estimate the short- and long-term health effects associated with exposure to extreme heat and low levels of fine particulate matter in a large population of Medicare enrollees living in rural and urban areas. Our findings will provide a much-needed evidence base for the development of new cost-effective and beneficial air quality interventions. The GHRI lead investigator is Jennifer F. Bobb.

Developing Design Principles to Integrate PROs into Clinical Practice through HIT: Data, User Experience, and Workflow Requirements for PRO Dashboards

A five-year, $62,613 grant from Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Major Goals: To employ systems engineering, human-centered design, and mixed-methods research methods to develop design principles for health information technologies (HIT) that enable healthcare practitioners to effectively integrate patient-reported outcomes (PROs) into patient care activities. This work will leverage the infrastructure of the Comparative Effectiveness Research Translation Network (CERTAIN) for statewide PRO collection focused on prostate cancer and spine surgery. The GHRI lead investigator is Andrea Hartzler.

Efforts to Develop the Sentinel Initiative: Evaluating the Performance of Mini-Sentinel Analytic Modules Using Simulation Experiments

A six-month, $30,151 grant from Food and Drug Administration. Major Goals: The objective of this workgroup is to describe the work that has been completed with these modules within the Mini-Sentinel as a literature review prior to detailed simulation work that is being planned under a project entitled "Evaluating the performance of Mini-Sentinel analytic modules using simulation experiments." The GHRI lead investigator is Jennifer C. Nelson.

Evaluating Second Harvest's Peer Nutrition Education Program

A three-year, $184,645 grant from Packard Foundation. Major Goals: 1. Evaluate the program’s effectiveness in implementing activities and garnering expected outputs. 2. Evaluate the program’s effectiveness in achieving expected outcomes and impacts. 3. Evaluate the program’s potential for replication and sustainability. 4. Develop the capacity of Second Harvest Food Bank staff to conduct an appropriate program evaluation going forward. The principal investigator is Allen Cheadle.

Exploring Opting Out of Lung Cancer Screening Participation in Long-Term Smokers

A seven-month, $39,872 grant from National Cancer Institute. Major Goals: To explore patient and provider perspectives regarding the recent implementation of low-dose computed tomography (CT) for lung cancer screening among long-term, heavy smokers. More specifically, this project will focus on understanding the decision of certain patients who chose not to have this screening even though it was offered by their provider. We will obtain these data from both patients who opt out of the screening as well as Group Health providers who are tasked with offering the screening to patients who meet the eligibility criteria. The GHRI lead investigator is Diana S. Buist.

Focus Group Data Analysis on Infant Mortality Issues Among Yakima Nation Pregnant Women

A four-month, $4,834 grant from March of Dimes Foundation. Major Goals: Analyze transcribed data from focus groups with Yakima Nation pregnant women. The GHRI lead investigator is Emily Bourcier.

ICD-10 Transition Prep

A one-year, $91,349 grant from Group Health Research Institute. Major Goals: Provide support to GHRI research teams to successfully handle the transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10. The principal investigator is Aruna Kamineni.

Integrating Addiction Research in Health Systems: the Addiction Research Network

A five-year, $1,141,029 grant from National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Major Goals: The proposed Addictions Research Network node of the NIDA Clinical Trials Network (CTN) has 3 main agendas: 1) to identify best practices for managing substance use disorder in medical settings; 2) to identify how to optimally implement those best practices in medical settings; and 3) to improve scientific methods for addressing Agenda’s 1 and 2 and disseminate them both within the CTN and beyond. The GHRI lead investigator is Katharine A. Bradley.

KFH NCR - HEAL Zones II

A three-year, $650,000 grant from Kaiser Foundation Hospitals-Northern California Region (KFH NCR). Major Goals: Evaluate the next phase of a community-based obesity prevention initiative funded by Kaiser. The principal investigator is Allen Cheadle.

Mammography Challenge Project

A nine-month, $56,155 grant from Laura and John Arnold Foundation. Major Goals: For this project, we will provide de-identified digital mammography images and accompany clinical data to SAGE Bionetworks to support their endeavor to improve automated mammography performance. We will work in collaboration with SAGE on logistics as well as interpretation. The GHRI lead investigator is Diana S. Buist.

Mental Health Research Network: Development of a Population-Based Risk Calculator for Suicidal Behavior

A one-year, $515,682 grant from National Institute of Mental Health. Major Goals: Use electronic medical records data from seven large health systems to develop evidence-based risk calculator tools to support providers' decisions regarding suicide risk assessment and follow-up care. The principal investigator is Gregory E. Simon.

Opioid 1A F Y1

A one-year, $795,528 grant from Campbell Alliance, Ltd. Major Goals: To develop the process, methods, and tools needed to conduct the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-mandated prospective cohort study on misuse, abuse, and addiction with extended release/long acting opioids. We will develop the infrastructure to recruit subjects, collect primary data, and harmonize electronic medical record data across eight study sites. A pilot study will be conducted and sites will be ready to launch subject recruitment by January 1, 2017. The principal investigator is Denise M. Boudreau.

Partnership for a Healthy Solano - Partnership to Improve Community Health (PICH)

A one-month, $49,802 grant from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Major Goals: Evaluate the implementation of a CDC PICH grant to promote tobacco cessation, sugar-sweetened beverage reduction, and community-clinic linkages. The principal investigator is Allen Cheadle.

Special Care Initiative Los Angeles County Patient Navigator Evaluation

A two-year, $150,000 grant from Kaiser Foundation Hospitals. Major Goals: To document the impact of patient navigator work on the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services specialty care system and develop a case study that communicates the value-add of a patient navigator role within the system. The GHRI lead investigator is Lisa Schafer.

The Electronic Medical Records and Genomics (eMERGE) Network, Phase III

A four-year, $3,763,811 grant from National Human Genome Research Institute. Major Goals: The Seattle eMERGE project aims to bring genomics to practice settings by taking advantage of the extensive medical records and biorepository of Group Health Cooperative, including a 33-year pharmacy database and longitudinal data on an aging population. The principal investigator is Eric B. Larson


August 2015

GHRI recently received word of eight new awards.

Efforts to Develop the Sentinel Initiative: Conducting Vaccine Effectiveness Surveillance in Sentinel’s Post-Licensure Rapid Immunization Safety Monitoring (PRISM) program

A one-year, $51,907 grant from Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Major Goals: To develop a white paper for FDA on methods to evaluate vaccine effectiveness in the Sentinel Network. The GHRI lead investigator is Lisa A. Jackson.

Efforts to Develop the Sentinel Initiative: Identification of Pregnant Women in the Mini-Sentinel Distributed Database and Determination of Drug Use Among Pregnant and Non-Pregnant Women

A five-month, $2,261 grant from Food and Drug Administration.  Major Goals: This project supports additional work under the Task Order 7 project. The additional work will utilize and enhance the analytic program developed to identify women with live birth deliveries in the Mini-Sentinel Distributed Database (MSDD), and assess medical product use among these women and a comparator group of similar women assumed to not be pregnant. The GHRI lead investigator is Sascha Dublin.

Electronic Medical Record (EMR) Dementia Risk Index

A one-year, $50,000 grant from University of California-San Francisco. Major Goals: To provide preliminary data to support future work to facilitate earlier diagnosis of dementia. Our ultimate goal is to develop a risk prediction score using data from the EMR to look for a “fingerprint” suggesting dementia among patients not yet recognized by their healthcare team as having dementia. In this pilot project we will identify a cohort of patients with undiagnosed dementia from within an ongoing cohort study and conduct analyses comparing the characteristics of patients with diagnosed and undiagnosed dementia to those without dementia. The GHRI lead investigator is Sascha Dublin.

Evidence-based Practice Centers (EPCs) IV: Task Order 4 - Childhood Overweight

A three-year, $57,067 grant from Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Major Goals: To support the US Preventive Services Task Force by conducting and completing a systematic review on the topic of childhood overweight. The GHRI lead investigator is Paula Lozano.

Lobular Duct Involution and Breast Density

A two-year, $64,712 grant from National Cancer Institute. Major Goals: 1) To digitize mammographic films for selected patients from the Kaiser Permanente Northwest healthcare system; 2) To assess mammographic density for each digitized film using Cumulus software; 3) To prepare a dataset containing the results from these mammographic assessments. The GHRI lead investigator is Erin J. Bowles.

Understanding Attempts in Individuals Who Report No Recent Suicide Ideation

A two-year, $90,000 grant from American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Major Goals: Development of a one-session intervention involving correction of inaccurate perceptions (inaccurate social norms) using videos of real people sharing their experiences around these issues using non-stigmatizing language. The principal investigator is Evette J. Ludman.

University of Washington Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Career Development Program K12 2014 2019

A one-year, $16,000 grant from Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The principal investigator is Karen Wernli.

Virginia Mason Kitsap/Snohomish Community Health Needs Assessment Supplement

A two-month, $3,690 grant from Virginia Mason Medical Center. Major Goals: Conduct a supplemental analysis for Virginia Mason's Community Health Needs Assessment for Kitsap/Snohomish Counties. The principal investigator is Emily Bourcier.


July 2015

GHRI recently received word of six new awards.

DCIS Decision Making

A six-month, $12,150 grant from Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Major Goals: To improve our understanding of what affects treatment decision-making for women with a diagnosis of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). In order to meet this goal, we will conduct focus groups with women diagnosed with DCIS in the last three years with the ultimate intention of developing a decision-tool to assist women in making a satisfying treatment choice. The GHRI lead investigator is Karen Wernli.   

Healthier Washington Initiative: Accountable Communities of Health

An eight-month, $135,000 grant from Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation. Major Goals: Evaluate the Accountable Communities Health component of the Washington State State Innovation Model grant. The principal investigator is Allen Cheadle.

Information for Building Research Across Interdisciplinary Gaps (BRIDG)

A five-year, $386,518 grant from National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Major Goals: This T90/R90 training program is designed to train promising investigators so that they can conduct multi-disciplinary, rigorous clinical studies of complementary and integrative medicine. The program will include a carefully designed didactic program as well as independent research projects. The GHRI lead investigator is Karen J. Sherman.

Meeting Series: Local Technology Leaders and GHRI

A one-year, $7,000 grant from Group Health Research Institute Endowment Fund. Major Goals: To host meetings with the technology leaders in the greater Seattle region to connect on healthcare related projects for future collaboration, with a particular focus in cancer projects. The principal investigator is Karen Wernli.

Mini-symposium Proposal: Designing, Disseminating, and Applying Patient-Centered Research - A User-Centered Design Approach

A four-month, $9,900 grant from Group Health Research Institute Endowment Fund. Major Goals: Holding a forum for patients and clinicians, end users of our research, will provide an ideal setting for GHRI researchers, together with our stakeholders, to learn an overview of user-centered design and how it may be applicable to our research. The principal investigator is Karin Johnson.

National Leadership Academy For Community Health Improvement (NLACHI)

A seven-month, $9,000 grant from Kaiser Foundation Hospitals - Northern California Region. Major Goals: To provide an evaluation perspective and design instruments for the launch of the new leadership development program targeted to Academy for Community Health Improvement membership. The GHRI lead investigator is Maggie Jones


June 2015

GHRI recently received word of 10 new awards.

Alzheimer's Disease Patient Registry/Adult Changes in Thought

(ADPR/ACT): A five-year, $12,986,617 grant from the National Institute on Aging. Major Goals: To determine cardiovascular and pharmacologic risk factors for Alzheimer disease in a community-based epidemiological study begun over 20 years ago. We will investigate mid- and late-life diseases that target microvessels (diabetes and renal disease) as well as atrial fibrillation (Aim 1) and late-life measures of physical performance (Aim 2) as determinants of such injury, and to continue to serve as a resource to the research community (Aim 3). The principal investigator is Eric B. Larson.

Health and Retirement Study Years 23–28 GHRI Adult Changes in Thought Subaward (HRS ACT)

A five-month, $55,490 grant from the National Institute on Aging. Major Goals: To develop cost-effective methods for identifying and tracking the prevalence of dementia in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). To pilot-test a cognitive assessment interview in about 60 ACT study participants with and without a dementia diagnosis to see how the assessment interview performs in identifying dementia when compared to the "gold-standard" ACT diagnosis. The GHRI lead investigator is Eric B. Larson.

Cancer Recurrence: Detection in Administrative Data, Incidence, and Costs

 A four-year, $129,431 grant from the National Cancer Institute. Major Goals: Provide versions of files, and where necessary, update data previously collected in support of the Burden of Cancer project. Support data analyses and interpret results of the algorithm to detect cancer recurrence and the costs of recurrent cancer. The GHRI lead investigator is Paul A. Fishman.

Efforts to Develop the Sentinel Initiative: Comparison of Safety Signaling Methods for Survival Outcomes to Control for Confounding in the Mini-Sentinel Distributed Database

A one-year, $437,596 grant from the Food and Drug Administration. Major Goals: 1) Review survival techniques that use propensity scores to account for confounding; 2) Develop and program new statistical approaches viable to the Sentinel data setting; and 3) Conduct a simulation study to compare the new approaches tailored to the Mini-Sentinel setting. The GHRI lead investigator is Andrea J. Cook.

Efforts to Develop the Sentinel Initiative: Guidance for Follow-up of A Safety Signal from Prospective Surveillance

A seven-month, $12,861 grant from the Food and Drug Administration. Major Goals: To develop practical guidance that will specify follow-up steps when a safety signal is generated during prospective surveillance using tools currently available in production. The GHRI lead investigator is Jennifer C. Nelson.

Evaluation of Drug Screening Implementation in Primary Care

A three-year, $540,216 grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Major Goals: 1. Describe rates of drug and marijuana screening across clinics, providers, and patient subgroups, and over time, as well as barriers and facilitators to population-based screening; 2. Assess changes in rates of identification and treatment of drug use and drug use disorders over time; and 3. Assess whether drug and marijuana use, reported on brief screens, is associated with increased subsequent urgent care, emergency department care, and hospitalization. The principal investigator is Katharine A. Bradley.

Modeling the Impact of Neisseria meningitides Serogroup A (MenA) Vaccine on Meningococcal Disease Rates and Mortality in Africa

A one-year, $49,140 grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Foundation. Major Goals: This project takes an existing model of serogroup A meningococcal disease in the African meningitis belt and uses it to forecast the impact of vaccination on disease incidence. The principal investigator is Michael L. Jackson.

Neighborhood Health Link: Community Connections for Helping Relationships

A one-year, $5,000 grant from the National Library of Medicine. Major Goals: Promote Neighborhood Health Link among community resources (libraries, community clinics) that help link people to health-promoting community services. The GHRI lead investigator is Emily Bourcier.

Support Preparation for Research to Integrate Genomic Information into Group Health-Wide Clinical Care and the Electronic Medical Record—eMERGE III

A two-month, $44,997 grant from the Group Health Research Institute Directors Project Resource Fund. Major Goals: To support eMERGE III funding. Recruit Asian Group Health members for a biobank. The principal investigator is James D. Ralston

Treatment and Outcomes in Diabetic Breast Cancer Patients

A four-year, $482,849 grant from the National Institutes of Health. Major Goals: 1) Evaluate how diabetes impacts breast cancer quality of care;  2) Evaluate outcomes of recurrence and breast cancer-specific and overall mortality in breast cancer patients with and without diabetes; and 3) Assess how breast cancer affects diabetes care quality in subgroups with both conditions. The GHRI lead investigator is Denise M. Boudreau.  


May 2015

GHRI recently received word of 10 new awards.

Computable Algorithms for Identifying Opioid Abuse and Addiction (Study 3B)

A one-year, $23,144 grant from Campbell Alliance, Ltd. Major Goals: Develop and validate a computable algorithm based on structured ("claims") data to identify patients being treated with long-acting and extended-release opioids who are experiencing abuse and/or addiction problems. The principal investigator is David Carrell.

Epidemiology of Novel Influenza Virus Infection and Antiviral effectiveness and Vaccine Effectiveness–Master Agreement No. 44720

A five-year, $50,000 grant from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Major Goals: Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity to plan and fund field studies in the event of an influenza pandemic. The principal investigator is Michael L. Jackson.

Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky Initiatives Evaluation

A one-year, $189,600 grant from Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky. Major Goals: To evaluate the third year of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky’s Promoting Responsive Health Policy and Investing in Kentucky’s Future initiatives and provide evaluation technical assistance to its grantees. The principal investigator is Maggie Jones.

Innovation in Medical Evidence Development and Surveillance—Work Order #1

A three-month, $8,845 grant from Reagan-Udall Foundation. Major Goals: To define the governance and processes for the operation of the Innovation in Medical Evidence Development and Surveillance (IMEDS) program using two demonstration cases. The principal investigator is Denise M. Boudreau.

Merced County—Partnerships to Improve Community Health (PICH)

A three-year, $123,750 grant from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Major Goals: To evaluate the impact of a program to use Community Health Workers to increase linkages between patients with chronic disease and community resources. The GHRI lead investigator is Allen Cheadle

Patient Voices: Supporting Patient Involvement in the Learning Healthcare System

A two-year, $22,940 grant from Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. Major Goals: To develop patient centered research engagement tools for infrastructure for ongoing patient-centered outcomes research. The GHRI lead investigator is Karen Wernli.

Team-based Safe Opioid Prescribing

A three-year, $1,496,629 grant from Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Major Goals: To implement a “team-based best practices” approach to safe opioid prescribing for chronic non-cancer pain in rural primary care clinics based on the Group Health Chronic Opioid initiative and findings in our recent work on the national project Primary Care Teams: Learning from Exemplar Ambulatory Practices (LEAP). Specific aims are to: 1) implement a team-based best practices approach to safe opioid prescribing in primary care; 2) examine the effectiveness of the intervention; 3) assess the sustainability of the team-based best practices approach; and 4) develop and launch a robust dissemination program. The principal investigator is Michael L. Parchman.

Technical Assistance for Grantees under the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality (AHRQ) Initiative Accelerating the Dissemination and Implementation of PCOR Findings into Primary Care Practice

A four-year, $599,223 grant from Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Major Goals: Provide technical assistance to AHRQ and the grantees by providing a learning collaborative environment, measures and data support, communications support, and logistics support for meetings among the grantees and AHRQ. The MacColl Center for Health Care Innovation will provide learning community leadership and content expertise for the project. The GHRI lead investigator is Judith Schaefer.

The Colorado Health Foundation Technical Assistance Partner

A three-year, $166,643 grant from Colorado Health Foundation. Major Goals: To provide tailored technical assistance to practices participating in the Colorado Health Foundation’s team-based care initiative to create and maintain high-functioning teams and to optimize the delivery of team-based care. The GHRI lead investigator is Edward H. Wagner.

University of Washington Health Promotion Research Center Renewal PRC Application

A five-year, $40,756 grant from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Major Goals: To continue the establishment of their Prevention Research Center focusing on older adult physical activity promotion. The GHRI lead investigator is Dori E. Rosenberg


April 2015

GHRI recently received word of 14 new awards.

Development Of Protocol For Extended-Release/Long-Acting Opioid Post-Marketing Requirement Studies: Observational Study

A five-month, $32,344 grant from Campbell Alliance, Ltd. The principal investigator is Denise M. Boudreau.

Ethics and Use of Big Consumer Data: Patient's Perspectives

A eight-month, $37,314 grant from Group Health Research Institute Development Fund. Major Goals: Using a formative approach, this project will establish qualitative insights into patients’ perceptions about potential benefits and risks of leveraging big consumer data across a range of potential scenarios at Group Health. Although we focus on development of a new research domain to integrate big consumer data into healthcare, findings will also provide an initial window into potential complexities of further use of consumer data for the health plan and delivery system. The principal investigator is Andrea Hartzler.

Evidence-based Practice Centers IV: Task Order 6 Screening for Multifactorial Dyslipidemia in Children and Adolescents

A three-year, $227,524 grant from Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The GHRI lead investigator is Paula Lozano.

Idiopathic Scoliosis in Adolescents: Topic Refinement, Systematic Evidence Review, Manuscript - Task Order 6

A three-year, $337,149 grant from Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The GHRI lead investigator is John B. Dunn.

Investigating Sedentary Time in Aging: New Directions Using Technology

A nine-month, $29,911 grant from Group Health Research Institute Development Fund. Major Goals: Using an iterative approach consisting of several reversal single case design experiments, this proposal will test the impact of a low-tech (kitchen timer) vs. high-tech (Jawbone Up band) approach to enhancing the TABS-P intervention effect on sit-to-stand transitions among 10 overweight and obese older adults. In-depth interviews with all 10 study participants will ascertain satisfaction with the interventions and refine the intervention in preparation for several R01 and R21 grant applications. The principal investigator is Dori E. Rosenberg.

Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Dose Toolkit

A three-month, $24,785 grant from Kaiser Foundation Health Plan. The principal investigator is Emily Bourcier.

Mobile Health Tools for Enhancing Adherence to Tai Chi for Back Pain and Fall Preventions: A Pilot Study

A nine-month, $45,000 grant from Group Health Research Institute Development Fund. Major Goals: To 1)       Recruit 7 adults over age 65 with chronic low back pain who have a moderate risk for falling to participate in an 8-week program of 4 weekly tai chi classes designed to improve their strength, balance, and pain. The in-person classes will be supplemented with an iPad portable mobile device application that provides video clips of home practice exercises and tracks adherence. Hypotheses: The mTaiChi program will be feasible and adherence will be high. Tai Chi classes with mTaiChi will result in improved strength, balance, and pain over the course of the 2 months. 2) Refine the Tai Chi class intervention and adherence videos using detailed input from the post-intervention focus groups. The principal investigator is Karen J. Sherman.

Project Access NW - Primary Link Evaluation

A one-year, $35,000 grant from Swedish Medical Center. Major Goals: Evaluate a program by Project Access NW to increase connections to primary care for emergency department patients. The GHRI lead investigator is Allen Cheadle.

Risk of Pediatric and Adolescent Cancer Associated with Medical Imaging

A five-year, $1,490,083 grant from National Cancer Institute. Major Goals: (1) To determine the risk of childhood leukemia among children and adolescents exposed to medical imaging examinations that deliver ionizing radiation; and (2) To determine the risk of childhood cancers among children and adolescents following fetal, in utero (maternal pregnancy) exposure to medical imaging. The GHRI lead investigator is Erin J. Bowles.

Supporting Provider Engagement in Improving Value in Health Care

A one-year, $672,818 grant from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Major Goals: To identify and promote the most promising, evidence-based strategies for obtaining buy-in, motivating behavior change, and providing support and infrastructure for providers to engage in and encourage their peers to introduce the major changes needed to improve value in health care. Specific tasks include: 1) convening three meetings of a technical advisory committee to shape the work and make recommendations for future action; 2) conducting a comprehensive literature review for communications that present the best social science evidence on provider engagement around value; 3) conducting a scan of current and proposed tools and approaches to engage providers in improving value; and 4) conducting a social media listening scan of successful leaders, messengers, and catalyst organizations. The principal investigator is Michael L. Parchman.

Transition of the Breast Screening Recruitment and Reminders (BSRR) Questionnaire

A nine-month, $21,999 grant from Group Health Research Institute Development Fund. Major Goals: To support the transition of the BSRR system from Radiology to GHRI. The principal investigator is Diana S. Buist.

Treatment Utilization Before Suicide (TUBS)

A four-year, $373,807 grant from National Institute of Mental Health. Major Goals: To 1) Identify clinical factors from general medical visits prior to suicide across sites, 2) Compare these clinical factors to a matched sample of health care users across sites, and 3) Investigate the content of general medical chart notes prior to suicide. The GHRI lead investigator is Gregory E. Simon.

World Health Organization (WHO) Guidance for Field Evaluation of Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness

A five-month, $15,121 grant from WHO. Major Goals: Work with WHO on developing guidelines for conducting observational influenza vaccine effectiveness studies in developing countries. Mike Jackson will serve as a consultant for outlining the content of the guidelines and identifying relevant subject matter experts. The principal investigator is Michael L. Jackson.  (R215023001)  


March 2015

GHRI recently received word of four new awards.

Alcohol-Related Care & Outcomes for Outpatients with HIV in a National VA Cohort

A two-year, $434,498 grant from National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Major Goals: This research uses a unique, secondary national Veterans Administration dataset that includes repeated alcohol screening data to describe and evaluate the effectiveness of brief alcohol interventions received in routine care among patients with HIV and unhealthy alcohol use. In addition, this study will evaluate whether changes in alcohol screening scores are associated with changes in HIV-related clinical outcomes in order to understand whether routine clinical alcohol screening can be used to monitor drinking in HIV+ populations for whom alcohol use is particularly risky. The principal investigator is Katharine A. Bradley.

All Heart Initiative Evaluation

A one-year, $45,000 grant from Kaiser Foundation Hospitals Southern California Region. Major Goals: Continue evaluation of ALL HEART initiative. The evaluation questions will focus on the key clinic-level short and intermediate outcomes that align with the desired outcomes in Kaiser Permanente’s Access strategic priority area—particularly the new ALL HEART elements focused on building clinic and system capacity. The principal investigator is Maggie Jones.

KFH NCR - PHASE II

A two-year, $500,000 grant from Kaiser Foundation Hospitals-Northern California Region. Major Goals: Evaluation of the next phase of the PHASE initiative. Document the impact of PHASE on clinical outcomes and clinic performance. Understand success factors, challenges and lessons learned and provide evaluation information in real time to promote program improvement. Communicate the results of the initiative effectively to key internal and external audiences. The principal investigator is Maggie Jones.

Specialty Care Initiative (SCI) Los Angeles County

A one-year, $30,000 grant from Kaiser Foundation Hospitals Southern California Region. Major Goals: The goal of the LA County SCI Group is to contribute to creating a more efficient, integrated health care delivery system in LA County where patients receive the right care, in the right place, from the right provider. The principal investigator is Lisa Schafer


February 2015

GHRI received word of seven new awards.

ALL PHASE surveys

A one-year, $27,000 grant from the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan. Major Goals: To use existing information from evaluation of ALL/PHASE (Aspirin-Lisinopril-Lovastatin/Preventing Heart Attacks Everyday) combined with new information from an online survey to: 1) Assess the extent to which ALL/PHASE has been sustained in the safety net. 2) Describe factors associated with sustainability. 3) Describe challenges with collecting and using data. 4) Propose recommendations for grant making that enhance the likelihood of sustainability. The principal investigator is Allen Cheadle.

Children's Hospital Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Medical Home

A three-year, $531,546 grant from the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare. Major Goals: To evaluate extension of medical home care coordination to children insured through the State Medicaid program who receive specialty care through Children's Hospital. The GHRI lead investigator is Paul A. Fishman.

Development Fund Request for Pilot Data to Develop National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) R03

A one-year, $9,612 grant from the Group Health Research Institute Development Fund. Major Goals: To conduct preliminary cross sectional analyses of the association between alcohol screening results and work productivity measures using data from Group Health’s online Health Risk Assessment (HRA) from 2010-2014. The principal investigator is Gwen Lapham.

Online Health Services for Patients Aged 13–18

A seven-month, $53,400 grant from the Group Health Foundation. Major Goals: 1) Conduct research to get current information about health plans and adolescent access to online health services. 2) Interview health plans who provide this service to learn benefits and drawbacks of providing this service. 3) Convene a meeting with a panel to discuss effective strategies for online health services to adolescents. 4) Prepare a white paper to recommend what online health services should be available to adolescents and their parent at Group Health. The principal investigator is Emily Bourcier.

Pregnancy Perspectives

A six-month, $39,979 grant from the Group Health Research Institute Development Fund. Major Goals: The aim of this project is to conduct focus groups of pregnant women and women who have given birth in the past 3 years to solicit their perspectives on two kinds of interventions in pregnancy: induction of labor and the use of medications during pregnancy. The women’s perspectives will shape our future grant proposals, helping us select the most important outcomes and exposures to study. Also, this project will help our team gain experience engaging patients as stakeholders in our research—experience that can be leveraged for a wide range of future grants. The principal investigator is Sascha Dublin.

Privacy-Preserving Analytic and Data-Sharing Methods for Clinical and Patient-Powered Data Networks

A three-year, $200,147 grant from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). Major Goals: 1) Increase the understanding and utility of privacy-preserving methods in multi-center patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) studies. 2) Develop a suite of flexible analytic and data-sharing methods to handle a wide range of needs, preferences, and priorities of different stakeholder groups in multi-center PCOR studies. 3) Improve the efficiency of multi-site PCOR studies by reducing barriers to data sharing. The GHRI lead investigator is David E. Arterburn.

TRADEMaRQ: Trial of Aggregate Data Exchange for Maintenance of Certification and Raising Quality

A two-year, $163,765 grant from the American Board of Family Medicine, Inc. Major Goals: 1) To test the capacity for exchange of whole-panel, family physician quality measures from clinical networks; 2) To study whether viewing quality measures and comparison to peers will affect the types of self-assessment modules and quality improvement efforts that are chosen by family physicians (randomized); 3) To study whether viewing quality measures and comparison to peers will influence the degree of change in outcomes after quality improvement efforts (randomized). The GHRI lead investigator is Michael L. Parchman.  


January 2015

GHRI received word of six new awards.

Efforts to Develop the Sentinel Initiative: Principal Investigator Supplement for Denise Boudreau

A nine-month, $40,725 grant from the Food and Drug Administration. The GHRI lead investigator is Denise M. Boudreau.

Exploring Mobile Health Tools for Smoking Cessation

A one-year, $36,765 grant from the Group Health Research Institute Development Fund. Major goals: To collect preliminary data to inform the optimal design of an mHealth smoking cessation program from the perspective of smokers and potential clinical users such as primary care providers, tobacco cessation counselors, and pharmacists. The principal investigator is Jennifer B. McClure.

GHRI Relationship-Building Content Strategy and Development

A one-year, $60,429 grant from Group Health Research Institute Development Fund. Major goals: 1) Continue development and implementation of a new strategy to use information technology to reach key audiences (including the general public, Group Health members, study participants, media, donors, potential donors, collaborators, providers, industry, and funders) in more targeted ways. 2) Continue development of GHRI's external web-based communication vehicles to make them more dynamic and interactive. 3) Plan to sustain such changes, evaluating their impact to determine communications strategies beyond 2015. The principal investigator is Joan DeClaire.

Linking Kids to Healthy Lifestyle Programs

A one-year, $119,996 grant from the Group Health Foundation. Major goals: This project leverages the resources of the LINCC project (PCORI) to develop new approaches for helping engage families of obese children and adolescents in community programs. If the pilot is successful, it will lead to an extramural grant application and has the potential to lead to spread of this innovative model in the Group Health care-delivery system. The principal investigator is Paula Lozano.

mPOWEr: Mobile Post-Operative Wound Evaluator

A nine-month, $11,174 grant from Surgical Infection Society (SIS). Major goals: This project involves a multi-center research study to compare the effectiveness of mPOWEr versus usual post-discharge care. The aims of this study are to: 1) establish the feasibility of implementing mPOWEr measured by patient satisfaction, provider acceptance, and system usage; 2) develop research protocols for the collaborative SIS clinical trials group to prepare for a multicenter mPOWEr trial; and 3) provide graduate students and surgical research fellows with training and mentorship in SIS and applied clinical informatics. The GHRI lead investigator is Andrea Hartzler.

Public Health—Seattle & King County Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Test and Cure Project

A four-year, $747,788 grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Major goals: Group Health will participate as a member of a broad-based coalition, led by Public Health—Seattle & King County, to strengthen diagnosis, treatment, and cure of HCV through the development and implementation of a package of services. Activities will be undertaken as a coalition partner and as part of the ongoing rollout of the Group Health clinical practice guideline. Activities will include increasing the use and effectiveness of the Group Health electronic health record and other Group Health resources to enhance HCV testing; increasing Group Health system capacity to evaluate HCV-related services and monitor patient outcomes; and training health care providers in the evaluation, management, and treatment of persons with HCV. The GHRI lead investigator is Delia Scholes