December 2017

KPWHRI recently received word of six new awards.

A Trauma-Informed Mindfulness-Based Yoga Intervention for Juvenile Justice-involved Youth

A three-year, $47,280 grant from National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Major goals: To refine and pilot a trauma-informed, mindfulness-based yoga (TIMBY) program, assess the preliminary impact of this program on youth behavioral and psychosocial outcomes, and test key aspects of the study design to inform the planning and implementation of a large and rigorous pragmatic, cluster randomized trial on the impact of a trauma-informed mindfulness-based yoga program on enhancing self-regulation (in the short-term) and reducing recidivism (in the long-term) among juvenile justice-involved youth. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Lynn DeBar.

 

Colorado Team Based Care Emerging Leaders Program

A one-year, $32,518 grant from Colorado Health Foundation. Major goals: TBD. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Brian Austin.

 

Efficacy of Scalable Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) for Insomnia in Older Adults with Osteoarthritis – Supplement

A two-year, $365,443 grant from National Institute on Aging. Major goals: To determine through a randomized trial if a telephone-based Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) intervention improves short-term and long-term sleep, fatigue, and quality-of-life outcomes compared to an education-only attention control group in a primary care population of older adults with moderate to severe chronic osteoarthritis and comorbid insomnia. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Michael R. Von Korff.

 

Evaluation Support to Kaiser Permanente Washington Community Health and Benefit

A two-year, $194,000 grant from Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Washington Community Benefit. Major goals: To provide technical assistance to our Kaiser Permanente Washington (KPWA) Community Health team as they design and implement their strategies, support their Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) process, and design and conduct robust process and impact evaluations for key pieces of their portfolio. The principal investigator is Elena S. Kuo.

 

Factors Associated with Sustained Opioid Taper

A one-year, $361,364 grant from Purdue Pharmaceuticals. Major goals: To estimate the rate of successful opioid tapers among patients using high dose long-term opioids and examine the effectiveness of opioid taper plans documented in the electronic medical record by the primary care provider (and plan components: switch to short-acting opioids, use of buprenorphine, prescription of antidepressant or anticonvulsant medication, referral to behavioral health, or monthly primary care visits) in producing sustained taper or discontinuation of long-term opioid therapy for chronic non-cancer pain. The principal investigator is David S. Carrell.

 

Pew Subsequent Evaluation

A three-year, $20,000 grant from Pew Charitable Trusts. Major goals: To provide consultation to guide the national study on the impact of Health Impact Assessments (HIAs), including their influence on determinants of health and health equity. The principal investigator is Emily Bourcier.


November 2017

KPWHRI recently received word of six new awards.

Development and Validation of the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) Risk of Alzheimer’s and Dementia Assessment Rule (eRADAR)

A five-year, $1,683,049 grant from National Institute on Aging. Major goals: To develop and prospectively validate the EMR Risk of Alzheimer’s and Dementia Assessment Rule (eRADAR), a simple, automated tool that will use information in the electronic medical record (EMR) to identify patients likely to have current, undiagnosed dementia. We will conduct focus groups and interviews with patients, caregivers, clinicians, and health care system leaders to seek guidance about best practices for implementing eRADAR in clinical practice. The Group Health Research Institute lead investigator is Sascha Dublin.

 

Evaluating the Performance of Mini-Sentinel Analytic Modules Using Simulation Experiments – Extension

A five-month, $25,486 grant from Food and Drug Administration. Major goals: To systematically examine the performance of propensity score (PS)-based methods in plausible Sentinel surveillance settings using plasmode simulation experiments. This effort is designed to inform priorities for future methodological development within Sentinel for Active Risk Identification and Analysis (ARIA) in response to the 2008 Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Amendments Act. The Group Health Research Institute lead investigator is Jennifer C. Nelson.

 

Health Outcomes for Patients with Dementia without Family Caregivers

A two-year, $132,496 grant from National Institute on Aging. Major goals: To investigate the relationship between social support, care utilization, and adverse outcomes for persons with dementia without family caregivers. The Group Health Research Institute lead investigator is Marlaine Gray.

 

Late Effects of Breast Cancer Treatment National Cancer Institute (NCI) Contract Sub-study: Risk of Contralateral Breast Cancer in Kaiser Permanent Colorado Breast Cancer Patients

A one-year, $40,436 grant from National Cancer Institute. Major goals: To scan and interpret breast density for 750 mammogram films from Kaiser Permanente Colorado (KPCO). The principal investigator is Erin J. Bowles.

 

Risk of New Malignancies Following Breast Cancer

A one-year, $149,990 grant from National Cancer Institute. Major goals: This study expands and existing breast cancer survivorship cohort to examine factors associated with risk of subsequent breast cancers and risk of second cancers in relation to primary breast cancer treatment. The principal investigator is Diana S. Buist.

 

Supplemental Recruitment for Elder Tai Chi (ETC)

A three-month, $21,487 grant from Group Health Research Institute Development Fund. Major goals: To supplement recruitment efforts for the Elder Tai Chi proposal. The principal investigator is Karen J. Sherman.

 


October 2017

KPWHRI recently received word of 14 new awards.

Developing Expertise and Methods to Support a Trial of Therapy Dog Visits in Pediatric Oncology (Development Fund Proposal)

A three-month, $11,323 grant from Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute Development Fund. Major goals: To support a pilot study of therapy dog visits for children with cancer by developing Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) expertise needed for the study database and future endeavors, and improving our methodology to measure microbial loads on patients’ hands. The principal investigator is Jessica Chubak.

 

Enhancing Virtual Data Warehouse (VDW) Comorbidity and Frailty Indices and Documentation

A three-month, $10,146 grant from Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute Development Fund. Major goals: To enhance our VDW comorbidity and frailty indices and their associated documentation. The principal investigator is Diana S. Buist.

 

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Boost Pilot

A three-month, $16,083 grant from Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute Development Fund. Major goals: This is a pilot study to learn if people who received at least one dose of HPV vaccine would be willing to participate in a future study of how the immune system responds to HPV vaccination. The principal investigator is Aruna Kamineni.

 

Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI) Video Dissemination Project

A three-month, $10,181 grant from Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute Development Fund. Major goals: To produce two short videos that share important information about Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI) research in ways that support the national organization's new strategic messaging framework.  These videos will be posted on the external website and shared with targeted audiences via social media and email.  This work needs to be done in lieu of replacing the old Group Health "flagship video", which became obsolete following the Kaiser Permanente acquisition. The lead is Joan DeClaire.

 

Leveraging Existing Aging Research Networks to Investigate Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Alzheimer’s Disease/Alzheimer’s Disease-Related Dementias (AD/ADRD) Risk

A five-year, $316,170 grant from National Institute on Aging. Major goals: To comprehensively examine the association of Traumatic Brain Injury/Repetitive Heat Impacts (TBI/RHI) with Alzheimer’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease related dementia utilizing harmonized clinical and neuropathological data collected from five ongoing NIH-funded cohort studies of aging. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Eric B. Larson.

 

Mobile Health Development Capacity Building: Use Case of HeartSteps

A ten-month, $47,602 grant from Group Health Foundation. Major goals: TBD. The principal investigator is Predrag Klasnja.

 

Multi-domain Alzheimer's Risk Reduction Study (MARRS) Pilot

A four-year, $3,231,173 grant from National Institute on Aging. Major goals: To develop and then pilot test a unique personalized multiple risk factor reduction strategy. The ultimate goal of this strategy is to reduce the rate of cognitive decline in older persons and ideally prevent onset of dementia. This project will determine how to mount a larger nationwide trial of multiple risk factor reduction to prevent dementia in older persons. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Eric B. Larson.

 

National Training and Technical Assistance Cooperative Agreements (NCAs)

A one-year, $18,401 grant from Health Resources and Services Administration. Major goals: To continue to spread the knowledge contained within www.improvingprimarycare.org on the key roles and functions of effective, efficient primary care delivered through multidisciplinary teams.  This project will allow us to share the teachings of the Team Guide to a large national audience of Community Health Center providers and staff interested in making the best use of their workforce. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Michael L. Parchman.

 

Optimizing Single Institutional Review Board (sIRB) for Review Genomic Research

A seven-month, $131,052 grant from National Human Genome Research Institute. Major goals: To develop and disseminate solutions for implementing a multisite Institutional Review Board IRB review policy and infrastructure through engaging institutions participating in the NIH-funded Electronic Medical Record and Genomics (eMERGE) Network. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is James D. Ralston.

 

ReCAPSE: Recurrence using Claims and Patient-Reported Outcomes (PROs) for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Expansion

A five-year, $545,299 grant from National Cancer Institute. Major goals: To advance cancer surveillance science by developing, validating, and deploying a scalable approach for identifying cancer recurrence using medical claims data and patient reported outcomes. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Jessica Chubak.

 

Safety-Net Learning and Action Hub for Value-Based Payment and Care

A three-year, $398,013 grant from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Major goals: To build capacity among primary care associations and other state-wide agencies to prepare practices for value based care and payment. This initiative will leverage quality improvement, primary care, and payment expertise in service of community health centers and community mental health agencies and their patients. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Katie Coleman.

 

Sessile Serrated Polyp Study Development Fund

A three-month, $9,892 grant from Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute Development Fund. Major goals: To prepare a manuscript comparing the risk of colorectal neoplasia among persons with sessile serrated vs. hyperplastic polyps, and pilot test KPWHRI’s Data Management/Documentation Toolkit using the sessile serrated polyp study. The principal investigator is Jessica Chubak.

 

Strategic Review of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Public Health Investments

A five-month, $27,321 grant from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). Major goals: To facilitate a strategic refresh of RWJF’s public health investment strategy and develop recommendations for future funding directions. The principal investigator is Maggie Jones.

 

Validation of Dementia Diagnoses

A three-month, $9,922 grant from Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute Development Fund. Major goals: To extract and examine data relevant to cognitive impairment, such as cognitive test scores, from Kaiser Permanente and Veterans Administration electronic medical records and to use these data to create and validate algorithms to identify dementia from electronic health data. The principal investigator is Sascha Dublin


September 2017

KPWHRI recently received word of 17 new awards.

Evidence Based Practice Center (EPC): Child Health Workgroup

A three-year, $36,151 grant from Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Major goals: To advise the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) in their identification of issues related to preventive services for children, adolescents, pregnant women and mothers, as well as proposing evidence-based approaches to these issues in the development and execution of systematic evidence reviews and USPSTF recommendations. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Paula Lozano.

 

Evidence Based Practice Center (EPC) V RFTO 42; Screening for Pancreatic Cancer

A two-year, $282,867 grant from Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Major goals: To support the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) by conducting and completing a systematic review on the Screening for Pancreatic Cancer topic. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Nora Henrikson.

 

Moving to Health: How Changing Built Environments Impact Weight and Glycemic Control

A five-year, $2,840,745 grant from National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Major goals: To determine whether measures of the built environment variables can predict longitudinal changes in body weight and HbA1c among Group Health (GH) adults and children during up to 12 years follow-up, independent of baseline measures of socioeconomic status (SES; e.g., individual residential property value and neighborhood-level median household income), demographic variables (e.g., age, gender, race/ethnicity, insurance type), and comorbid health conditions (e.g., smoking, asthma, arthritis, hypertension, dyslipidemia), to determine whether immediate, moving-induced changes in built environment (BE) variables can predict changes in body weight and HbA1c, independent of changes in SES and other covariates and determine whether more gradual, secular changes in the BE can predict changes in weight and HbA1c, among people who do not move residence, independent of changes in SES and other covariates. The principal investigator is David E. Arterburn.

 

National Institutes of Health (NIH) Collaboratory Coordinating Center

A five-year, $1,202,709 grant from National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Major goals: To facilitate ongoing pragmatic clinical trials, to gain generalizable knowledge on how to work with healthcare systems, to better understand value of pragmatic clinical trials and to work on dissemination, implementation and sustainability of results from pragmatic clinical trials. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Eric B. Larson.

 

Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership (OMOP) Information Model for Electronic Medical Records and Genomics (eMERGE) Phenotyping

A one-year, $99,999 grant from National Human Genome Research Institute. Major goals: To improve the sharing and consistency of phenotype definitions across the eMERGE (Electronic Medical Records and Genomics) network. We will do this by incorporating the Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership (OMOP) information model locally in a secure, dedicated relational database. Additionally, and as feasible, we will explore creating an OMOP version of our existing enterprise data warehouse, limited to our eMERGE subjects, implementing a traditional OMOP data model and the Observational Health Data Sciences and Informatics (OHDSI) software stack. The principal investigator is Eric B. Larson.

 

Seeing and Sharing What Matters: Personal Health Libraries for Individuals with Multiple Chronic Conditions

A four-year, $1,572,388 grant from National Library of Medicine. Major goals: To evaluate a multi-site intervention using health information technology and patient portals to offer bi-directional communication between caregivers of patients with Alzheimer’s disease and their care teams. The principal investigator is James D. Ralston.

 

Sentinel Data Partners (DP) Year 4 Infrastructure: Activity 1 Create and Maintain Sentinel Distributed Database (SDD)

A one-year, $92,455 grant from Food and Drug Administration. Major goals: To participate as a Sentinel Data Partners (DPs), create and maintain the Sentinel Distributed Database in order, and run data requests or return data and documents of various types to the Sentinel Coordinating Center (SCC) via the Sentinel PopMedNet Distributed Query Tool System. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Denise M. Boudreau.

 

Sentinel Data Partners (DP) Year 4 Infrastructure: Activity 2 Prepare and Update Summary Tables

A one-year, $11,363 grant from Food and Drug Administration. Major goals: To participate as a Sentinel Data Partners (DPs), create and maintain the Sentinel Distributed Database in order, and run data requests or return data and documents of various types to the Sentinel Coordinating Center (SCC) via the Sentinel PopMedNet Distributed Query Tool System. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Denise M. Boudreau.

 

Sentinel Data Partners (DP) Year 4 Infrastructure: Activity 3 Maintain Operation of PopMedNet

A one-year, $39,128 grant from Food and Drug Administration. Major goals: To participate as a Sentinel Data Partners (DPs), create and maintain the Sentinel Distributed Database in order, and run data requests or return data and documents of various types to the Sentinel Coordinating Center (SCC) via the Sentinel PopMedNet Distributed Query Tool System. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Denise M. Boudreau.

 

Sentinel Data Partners (DP) Year 4 Infrastructure: Activity 4 Support Sentinel Distributed Database (SDD) Reporting

A one-year, $21,647 grant from Food and Drug Administration. Major goals: To participate as a Sentinel Data Partners (DPs), create and maintain the Sentinel Distributed Database in order, and run data requests or return data and documents of various types to the Sentinel Coordinating Center (SCC) via the Sentinel PopMedNet Distributed Query Tool System. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Denise M. Boudreau.

 

Sentinel Data Partners (DP) Year 4 Infrastructure: Activity 5 Support Continuous Data Improvement

A one-year, $33,010 grant from Food and Drug Administration. Major goals: To participate as a Sentinel Data Partners (DPs), create and maintain the Sentinel Distributed Database in order, and run data requests or return data and documents of various types to the Sentinel Coordinating Center (SCC) via the Sentinel PopMedNet Distributed Query Tool System. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Denise M. Boudreau.

 

Sentinel Data Partners (DP) Year 4 Infrastructure: Activity 6 Support Response to Surveys

A one-year, $21,647 grant from Food and Drug Administration. Major goals: To participate as a Sentinel Data Partners (DPs), create and maintain the Sentinel Distributed Database in order, and run data requests or return data and documents of various types to the Sentinel Coordinating Center (SCC) via the Sentinel PopMedNet Distributed Query Tool System. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Denise M. Boudreau.

 

Sentinel Data Partners (DP) Year 4 Infrastructure: Activity 7 Establish Capacity for Timely Response to Sentinel Coordinating Center (SCC) Queries

A one-year, $93,047 grant from Food and Drug Administration. Major goals: To participate as a Sentinel Data Partners (DPs), create and maintain the Sentinel Distributed Database in order, and run data requests or return data and documents of various types to the Sentinel Coordinating Center (SCC) via the Sentinel PopMedNet Distributed Query Tool System. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Denise M. Boudreau.

 

Sentinel Data Partners (DP) Year 4 Infrastructure: Activity 8. Respond to Patient Episode Profile Retrieval (PEPR) Requests

A one-year, $11,363 grant from Food and Drug Administration. Major goals: To participate as a Sentinel Data Partners (DPs), create and maintain the Sentinel Distributed Database in order, and run data requests or return data and documents of various types to the Sentinel Coordinating Center (SCC) via the Sentinel PopMedNet Distributed Query Tool System. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Denise M. Boudreau.

 

Sentinel Data Partners (DP) Year 4 Infrastructure: Activity 9. Respond to Ad Hoc Requests

A one-year, $21,647 grant from Food and Drug Administration. Major goals: To participate as a Sentinel Data Partners (DPs), create and maintain the Sentinel Distributed Database in order, and run data requests or return data and documents of various types to the Sentinel Coordinating Center (SCC) via the Sentinel PopMedNet Distributed Query Tool System. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Denise M. Boudreau.

 

Weight Loss as a Predictor for Cancer in Primary Care

A one-year, $40,000 grant from United Kingdom National Institute for Health Research. Major goals: To establish the evidence necessary to allow general practitioners in the United Kingdom to more effectively implement the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) cancer guidance on the management of unexplained weight loss. This study will examine the extent to which unexplained weight loss has diagnostic predictive value for cancer in primary care. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Jessica Chubak


August 2017

KPWHRI recently received word of nine new awards.

A Naturalistic Experiment Evaluating the Impact of Medicaid Treatment Reimbursement Changes on Opioid Prescribing and Patient Outcomes Among Patients with Low Back Pain

A four-year, $4,402,802 grant from Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. Major goals: To evaluate a Medicaid payer strategy enacted in Oregon to enhance access to evidence-based non-pharmacotherapeutic treatment options and restrict opioid reimbursement for back pain. The primary focus is whether the strategy will decrease unsafe opioid prescribing and improve patient outcomes compared with usual care practices in a comparable state (California). This comparison is critical to patients, primary care providers, health care systems leaders, and policy makers when evaluating safe and effective alternatives to opioids in treating back pain. The principal investigator is Lynn DeBar.

An Evaluation of the National Zero Suicide Model Across Learning Healthcare Systems

A five-year, $1,293,007 grant from National Institute of Mental Health. Major goals: To evaluate implementation of Zero Suicide care improvement strategies across Kaiser Permanente regions. The Group Health Research Institute lead investigator is Gregory E. Simon.

 

Collaborative Care for Chronic Pain in Primary Care

An eight-month, $159,820 grant from National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Major goals: A mixed-methods, cluster-randomized pragmatic clinical trial that will evaluate the integration of psychosocial services into the primary care environment in three Kaiser Permanente regions: Georgia, Hawaii, and the Northwest. The principal investigator is Lynn DeBar.

 

Decreasing the Engagement Gap for Addiction Treatment in Primary Care

A five-year, $963,833 grant from National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Major goals: To evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of mobile health (mHealth) tools for treating alcohol use disorders in primary care and to develop an independent, innovative health services research program that will increase access to effective treatment and improve outcomes for primary care patients with alcohol use disorder. The principal investigator is Joseph E. Glass.

 

Facilitating Lower Opioid Amounts Through Tapering

A three-year, $14,971 grant from National Institute on Drug Abuse. Major goals: To fully evaluate the effectiveness and generalizability of a pharmacist-led opioid tapering program initiated at Kaiser Permanente Northwest that aims to assist primary care providers in tapering patients on long-term, high-dose opioids. The study will utilize the Reach Effectiveness Adoption Implementation Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework to assess whether the program can be implemented in other health care delivery systems, and seek for demonstration of the program’s reach, adoption, implementation (including costs) and maintenance into routine practice. The Group Health Research Institute lead investigator is Lynn DeBar.

 

Forecasting Influenza Epidemics Using a Mechanistic Epidemic Model

A four-year, $1,013,055 grant from National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Major goals: To estimate parameters for mechanistic model of influenza, and validate on external populations; quantify the connection between antigenic distance between virus strains and population susceptibility to influenza; and forecast dominant virus strains for future influenza seasons with at least ten months lead time. The principal investigator is Michael L. Jackson.

Implementation and Dissemination of Novel Approaches to Hematuria Evaluation

A one-year, $37,691 grant from Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. Major goals: To refine a novel computable phenotype for an episode of care around hematuria evaluation and apply the computable phenotype to Patient Outcomes Research to Advance Learning (PORTAL) data from Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Northwest, and Washington regions.  In addition to providing a foundation for future proposals to evaluate the impact of adoption and differential implementation in the Kaiser Permanente system, this work will demonstrate feasibility for a planned pragmatic hybrid implementation-effectiveness study across multiple health systems. The Group Health Research Institute lead investigator is Michael L. Parchman.

 

Phase II H7N9 with or without AS03 - Protocol Development and Implementation for Task Area B-C Phase II Vaccine Trial for Influenza Task Order Task Area B-C FY.2017.B8C.12.0080

A one-year, $2,540,296 grant from National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Major goals: To evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of an influenza A H7N9 vaccine in adults. The principal investigator is Lisa A. Jackson.

 

Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD) Project: VSD Project Infrastructure Activities

A five-year, $3,830,743 grant from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Major goals: The Vaccine Safety Datalink Project is a collaborative activity involving the CDC and multiple large health plans in the United States. Through this collaborative project we collect person-level vaccination and comprehensive medical information on nearly 9.8 million members and conduct epidemiologic studies and surveillance for adverse events following vaccination. The principal investigator is Lisa A. Jackson


July 2017

KPWHRI recently received word of 10 new awards.

Disentangling Chronic Neurodegeneration and Acute Neuroinflammation in Critical Illness—Neuroinflammation and Vasculopathy after Sepsis in the Adult Changes in Thought (ACT) Autopsy Cohort—Hospital  Record Linkage

A seven-month, $30,908 grant from National Institutes of Health. Major goals: To compare neuropathological and molecular changes in patients who die of sepsis and those who die of non-infectious causes among Adult Changes in Thought (ACT) participants.  We hypothesize that acute critical illness and chronic neurodegenerative disease result in overlapping but distinct signatures of brain gene and protein expression.  Understanding whether specific inflammatory pathways or specific functional pathways are altered in the brain during sepsis will lead to novel treatments for both acute and chronic brain dysfunction in this common but potentially devastating disease. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Eric B. Larson.

 

Glycemic Targets and Functional Decline in Oldest Old with Type 2 Diabetes

A two-year, $47,617 grant from University of Washington. Major goals: To examine the relationship between blood sugar control in the “oldest old” persons in the ACT (Adult Changes in Thought) study and cognitive function over time. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Eric B. Larson.

 

Kaiser Foundation Hospitals Southern California Region (KFH SCR)—Thriving   Schools Phase 2

A two-year, $279,957 grant from Kaiser Permanente Southern California. Major goals: To improve healthy eating, physical activity, and school climate in K-12 schools in Kaiser Permanente’s service areas, primarily through a focus on policy, systems, and environmental changes that make the healthy choice the easy choice. A distinctive feature of this initiative is to help create a culture of health in school communities through complementary efforts targeting both teacher/staff wellness and student health. The principal investigator is Elena S. Kuo.

 

Measurement, Evaluation, and Learning Services for Kaiser Permanente Program Office

A six-month, $399,165 grant from Kaiser Foundation Health Plan. Major goals: To provide measurement, evaluation, and learning services to Kaiser Permanente Program Office in 2017. The principal investigator is Maggie Jones.

 

Meningococcal Group A (MenA) Vaccine Model

A one-year, $81,019 grant from GAVI. Major goals: To continue validation of existing Neisseria meningitides (NmA) model for Africa and forecast impact of NmA vaccination in Africa. The principal investigator is Michael L. Jackson.

 

Mental Health Research Network—Computational  Modeling to Predict Suicidal Behavior

A two-year, $618,065 grant from National Institute of Mental Health. Major goals: Data from seven Mental Health Research Network (MHRN) health systems will be used to develop and evaluate machine learning models to predict risk of suicide attempt and suicide death from electronic health records.  This new project will extend previous work by: evaluating risk after emergency department and inpatient care, including more detailed data regarding past diagnoses and utilization, and evaluating newer statistical approaches. The principal investigator is Gregory E. Simon.

 

Partnering with Oregon Primary Care Association (OPCA)

A one-year, $32,704 grant from Kaiser Permanente Community Benefit. Major goals: TBD. The principal investigator is Katie Coleman.

 

Risk-based Breast Cancer Screening and Surveillance in Community Practice—Project 3

A five-year, $450,668 grant from National Cancer Institute. Major goals: This project within our Program Project will estimate risks of surveillance imaging benefits and harms, accounting for rapid changes in breast cancer information and imaging methods, to support a shift toward individualized, risk-based imaging strategies for women with a personal history of breast cancer. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Diana S. Buist.

 

Risk-based Breast Cancer Screening and Surveillance in Community Practice—Registry

A five-year, $1,560,031 grant from National Cancer Institute. Major goals: To collect data from Kaiser Permanente Washington imaging facilities and link these data to pathology, cancer, and mortality data sources to submit to Cancer Screening and Surveillance. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Erin J. Bowles.

 

Risk-based Breast Cancer Screening and Surveillance in Community Practice—Statistical Coordinating Center (SCC)

A five-year, $3,339,246 grant from National Cancer Institute. Major goals: The major goals of the Biostatistics and Data Management (BDM) Core are to collect, manage, analyze, and share data for all projects. The BDM Core will collect data on 2.6 million women (including 90,000 breast cancer survivors) from six breast imaging registries and combine the data into common datasets that will be analyzed at a central Statistical Coordinating Center and made accessible to all projects and cores. Core staff will work closely with program investigators to ensure high-quality and efficient research practices. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Ellen O'Meara


June 2017

KPWHRI recently received word of seven new awards.

Advanced Breast Imaging: Trends and Outcomes Associated with Recent Breast Density Reporting Legislation

A four-year, $235,050 grant from National Cancer Institute. Major goals: To evaluate the impact of state-specific density notification legislation on use of breast imaging and downstream clinical and economic outcomes including breast cancer incidence. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Karen Wernli.

 

Improving Health Care for Underserved Population: Evaluating the Meridian Center for Health

A one-year, $32,252 grant from King County Health Department. Major goals: To evaluate an innovative partnership between NeighborCare, Valley Cities, and Seattle-King County Public Health. The principal investigator is Clarissa Hsu.

 

Institute of Translational Health Sciences

A five-year, $383,690 grant from National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. Major goals: To create, test, and disseminate an implementation guide for spreading health innovations to diverse practice settings. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Michael L. Parchman.

 

Kaiser Permanente Research Bank – Kaiser Permanente Washington (KPWA) Region

A nine-month, $348,418 grant from Kaiser Permanente Community Benefit. Major goals: To establish infrastructure needed to participate in the Kaiser Permanente National Biobank and to pilot test recruitment process for the Kaiser Permanente National Biobank at Kaiser Permanente Washington. The principal investigator is James D. Ralston.

 

Social Determinants of Health in Washington State: A Summit to Identify Priorities and Action

A seven-month, $134,916 grant from Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Washington Community Benefit. Major goals: To advance the work of addressing social determinants of health in Washington State through in-depth interviews followed by a facilitated discussion with key state stakeholders. The discussion will take place at a summit sponsored by the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI). We aim to come out of the summit with an actionable agenda around social determinants of health. The principal investigator is Allen Cheadle.

 

SONNET: Social Needs Network for Evaluation and Translation

A one-year, $26,151 grant from Kaiser Program Office Community Benefit. Major goals: To connect a group of experts focused on social determinants, consult with Kaiser investigators and providers in evaluating programs to address social determinants, and translate the expertise and knowledge gained throughout the Kaiser regions. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Cara C. Lewis.

 

The Adult Changes in Thought (ACT) Annual Symposium: A Living, Learning, National Collaboratory to Advance Alzheimer's Disease and Brain Aging Research

A three-year, $147,270 grant from National Institute on Aging. Major goals: To provide support for the annual Adult Changes in Thought (ACT) symposium, including meeting space, travel, registration, and support staff salaries. The principal investigator is Eric B. Larson


May 2017

KPWHRI recently received word of four new awards.

2017 Community Health Worker Trainings Evaluation

A one-year, $12,000 grant from Washington Dental Service Foundation. Major goals: Washington Dental Service Foundation is funding a training program in oral health for Community Health Workers in Washington State. They are evaluating the program using a pre/post survey of participants. This project will analyze that survey data and produce a paper summarizing the results. The principal investigator is Allen Cheadle.

 

Healthwise Shared Decision Making Skills for Providers: Continuing Medical Education (CME) Evaluation

A one-year, $67,550 grant from Healthwise. Major goals: To assess the impact of the Healthwise online continuing medical education course about shared decision-making taken by Kaiser Permanente Washington providers in 2017. We will evaluate changes in provider knowledge, provider use of decision aids, and patient satisfaction before and after providers take the course. The principal investigator is Ellen O'Meara.

 

Psychological Benefits and Potential Pathogen Transmission in Hospitalized Pediatric Oncology Patients Receiving Therapy Dog Visits: a Randomized Controlled Trial

A two-year, $442,981 grant from National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Major goals: To assess the effect of twice weekly therapy dog visits on psychosocial outcomes and satisfaction with care among pediatric oncology inpatients; and determine whether therapy dog visits increase microbial levels on children’s hands. The principal investigator is Jessica Chubak.

 

Trial Outcomes for Massage: Caregiver-Assisted vs. Therapist-Treated (TOMCATT) Study

A one-year, $11,842 grant from VA Health Services Research & Development. Major goals: To develop, test, and implement novel treatments that address barriers to effective chronic pain treatment and that can be practicably applied in VA care settings. The Trial Outcomes for Massage: Caregiver-Assisted vs. Therapist-Treated (TOMCATT) Study is a 2-arm, parallel group, non-inferiority, randomized clinical trial. The TOMCATT Study will target 392 veterans with chronic neck pain and will compare the effectiveness of caregiver-assisted massage intervention with therapist-treated massage. The trial will last 9-months and participants will undergo comprehensive outcome assessments at baseline, 1, 3, 6, and 9 months. The Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Karen J. Sherman


April 2017

KPWHRI recently received word of four new awards.

A Big Data Research Study on the Relationship Between Metformin Use and Dementia

A two-year, $158,304 grant from National Institute on Aging. Major goals: To examine whether metformin use is associated with lower risk of incident dementia in people with diabetes mellitus, including: 1) to determine whether people who initiate treatment with metformin have a lower risk of dementia than people initiating treatment with a sulfonylurea; 2) to determine whether people who initiate treatment with metformin are at lower risk than comparable people who delay pharmacologic treatment; and 3) to explore whether the association between metformin and dementia differs by age or gender. The KPWHRI lead investigator is Sascha Dublin.

 

Center for Care Innovations Kaiser Permanente (KP) Transformation Accelerator

A two-year, $121,563 grant from Kaiser Foundation Health Plan. Major goals: To conduct the evaluation of the Transformation Accelerator program, including contributions to capacity development, effectiveness of the model, and spread to other Kaiser Permanente regions. The KPWHRI lead investigator is Maggie Jones.

 

Methods for Tracking Intervention Adaptation and Implementation Strategies

A nine-month, $20,005 grant from KPWHRI Development Fund. Major goals: To obtain pilot data to support an R01 application that would develop pragmatic measures and methods for tracking tailoring of implementation strategies and treatment adaptation in the context of a depression prevention implementation trial. The principal investigator is Cara C. Lewis.

 

Population-Based Incidence of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Across Multiple Years in the US (Code: RSV00022)

A one-year, $563,247 grant from Sanofi Pasteur. Major goals: Using specimens collected as part of the US Flu Vaccine Effectiveness study, we will estimate the incidence of medically attended Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) in the Kaiser Permanente Washington population. For this, the University of Washington clinical virology lab will test stored specimens for RSV, and we will use the test results to calculate cumulative incidence of RSV by age group and year. The principal investigator is Michael L. Jackson.


March 2017

KPWHRI recently received word of six new awards.

Comorbidity and Screening Outcomes Among Older Women Undergoing Mammography

A four-year, $807,815 grant from National Cancer Institute. Major goals: To conduct analyses to optimize or enhance screening by considering advances in cancer control in two areas: polygenic genetic risk and emerging screening technologies. Both of these are linked to risk of developing a particular molecular sub-type of tumor based on Estrogen Receptor/Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 (ER/HER2). The modeling groups will also research the outcomes of watchful waiting approaches for screen-detected Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and evaluate molecular-targeted treatments for invasive cancers. The Kaiser Permanente of Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Diana S. Buist.

 

Center of Youth Wellness (CYW)-Evaluation of National Pediatric Practice Community (NPPC) on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Screening

A ten-month, $61,454 grant from Center for Youth Wellness. Major goals: To conduct an evaluation of a national practice community of pediatric providers to assess if and how their awareness, knowledge, and behaviors have changed related to screening kids for Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and providing appropriate follow up. We will also perform a retrospective analysis of two years of clinical data to see what (if any) effect ACEs screening and intervention has had on pediatric health outcomes. The principal investigator is Lisa Schafer.

 

Data Infrastructure for Feedback-Informed Care

A one-year, $265,553 grant from Garfield Memorial Foundation. Major goals: To implement improvements to existing virtual data warehouse (VDW) tables to support timely reporting of depression outcomes, develop analytic methods for personalized outcome predictions, design reporting tools for providers and patients. The Kaiser Permanente of Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Gregory E. Simon.

 

Montana Healthcare Foundation - Perinatal Drug Use Program Evaluation

A five-month, $17,150 grant from Montana Healthcare Foundation. Major goals: To work with Community Health Partners to evaluate a program addressing perinatal drug use. The principal investigator is Lorella Palazzo.

 

Risk of Hospitalization Following Chemotherapy - a Validation Study

A four-month, $17,600 grant from American Society of Clinical Oncology. Major goals: To validate a program already developed at two other Cancer Research Network sites. The Kaiser Permanente of Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Erin J. Bowles.

 

The Effectiveness, Safety, and Costs of Guideline-Concordant Lung Nodule Care

A four-year, $557,594 grant from National Cancer Institute. Major goals: To guide efforts to improve care and outcomes for 1.5 million people diagnosed with a lung nodule each year. We will evaluate the risks, benefits and costs of individuals receiving varying diagnostic intensities for incidentally detected lung nodules. The Kaiser Permanente of Washington Health Research Institute lead investigator is Diana S. Buist.

 


February 2017

KPWHRI recently received word of four new awards.

Advancing Implementation Science through Measure Development and Evaluation - Diversity Supplement

A two-year, $86,469 grant from National Institute of Mental Health. Major goals: To develop psychometrically strong and pragmatic measures and methods for implementation science. The principal investigator is Cara C. Lewis. (R216073030)

 

Cowlitz School Gardens

A one-year, $17,000 grant from Kaiser Foundation Health Plan. Major goals: To evaluate the impact of a school garden curriculum on youth food related attitudes and behavior. The principal investigator is Diana Charbonneau. (R216144001)

 

Population-Based Research Optimizing Screening Through Personalized Regimens (PROSPR): Studying Colorectal Cancer Effectiveness of Screening Strategies (SuCCESS) and Cervical Cancer Unit (CCU) Bridge Funding

A seven-month, $660,481 grant from National Cancer Institute. Major goals: To complete, during a close-out period, activities associated with PROSPR: Studying Colorectal Cancer Effectiveness of Screening Strategies (SuCCESS) and the Cervical Cancer Unit. The principal investigators are Jessica Chubak and Aruna Kamineni. (R210174050)

 

Washington (WA) State Insurance Exchange Enrollee Analysis

A one-year, $12,322 grant from Group Health Research Institute Directors Project Resource Fund. Major goals: To characterize and compare the demographic characteristics and utilization patterns of people who sign up through various types of insurance available in the individual and family health insurance market, individual coverage through the Washington State Health Benefits Exchange, individual coverage directly, and employer sponsored insurance/commercial. The principal investigator is David C. Grossman. (R216119001)


January 2017

GHRI recently received word of 19 new awards.

A Pilot Study of the Social Determinants of Healthcare for Substance Use Disorders

A one-year, $70,000 grant from Group Health Research Institute Development Fund. Major goals: To describe racial/ethnic, gender, and economic differences in the receipt of services for substance use disorders and demonstrate the feasibility of using Group Health medical charts to identify differences between these groups in how clinicians establish a diagnosis of substance use disorder. The principal investigator is Joseph E. Glass.

 

BP-CHECK Automated Office Blood Pressure (BP) Measurements

A nine-month, $30,235 grant from Group Health Research Institute Development Fund. Major goals: To add a fourth method of diagnosing hypertension, automated office blood pressure monitoring, to an existing study comparing multiple methods of diagnosing hypertension. The principal investigator is Beverly B. Green.

 

Building a Cost Effectiveness Analysis and Modeling Resource for Group Health Research Institute (GHRI)

A one-year, $50,000 grant from Group Health Research Institute Development Fund. Major goals: To develop a resource that would strength analytic and methodological capacity in cost-effectiveness analysis. The principal investigator is Kai Yeung.

 

Cancer Survivor Survey on Electronic Cigarettes and Symptom Burden

A six-month, $35,846 grant from Group Health Research Institute Development Fund. Major goals: To describe e-cigarette use and beliefs among lung and head and neck cancer survivors and estimate the prevalence of general and disease-specific symptoms in lung and head and neck cancer survivors. The principal investigator is Jessica Chubak.

 

Cannabis Use During Pregnancy:  Pilot Quantitative and Qualitative Data Needed to Obtain National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Funding

A one-year, $69,518 grant from Group Health Research Institute Development Fund. Major goals: To conduct preliminary quantitative and qualitative pilot work to describe the prevalence of cannabis use and the pregnancy outcomes, as well as possible reasons for cannabis use, among pregnant women attending Group Health in preparation for a future National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) funded grant. The principal investigator is Gwen Lapham.

 

Center for Care Innovations - Safety Net Analytics Program

A one-year, $74,600 grant from Cedars-Sinai. Major goals: To evaluate the effectiveness of CCI's Safety Net Analytics Program to elevate successes and identify areas for improvement and spread. The Group Health Research Institute lead investigator is Maggie Jones.

 

Clare Fertility 2017

A one-year, $67,377 grant from Group Health Research Institute Development Fund. Major goals: To understand the lived experiences of adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients with advanced cancer who are making decisions about fertility preservation and family planning, and to use this understanding to make recommendations to care professionals who are advising AYA patients as they make choices about treatment. The principal investigator is Marlaine Gray.

 

Clare Opioids

A one-year, $30,375 grant from Group Health Research Institute Development Fund. Major goals: To understand the use of opioids in national claims based data for adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients. The principal investigator is Karen Wernli.

 

Developing Expertise in the Processing and Analysis of Accelerometer Data

A one-year, $40,000 grant from Group Health Research Institute Development Fund. Major goals: To develop biostatistical expertise at Group Health Research Institute (GHRI) for the analysis of accelerometer data. The newly developed expertise we be applied to advance two currently funded GHRI projects led by Dr. Rosenberg (ACT and ISTAND), and will provide the biostatistical knowledge base that will enable these data to be used successfully in future grant applications for ACT specifically and for the broader research institute. The principal investigator is Dori E. Rosenberg.

 

Development and Validation of a Tool for Automated Monitoring of Medication Allergies and Side Effects (AMMASE)

A six-month, $37,256 grant from Group Health Research Institute Development Fund. Major goals: To develop a natural language processing (NLP) system to automate the capture of medication side effect (MSE) descriptions appearing in electronic clinical text. This NLP system will be used to investigate the impact of MSEs on treatment adherence and outcomes for Group Health patients receiving antidepressants and antipsychotic medications.  The project will also support preparation of an external grant proposal. The principal investigator is David S. Carrell.

 

Group Health Cancer Research Program Research Specialist Award

A five-year, $948,128 grant from National Cancer Institute. Major goals: To support Erin Bowles as a scientist in various GHRI cancer research programs. The principal investigator is Erin J. Bowles.

 

Opening the Notes of Specialty Electronic Consultations to Patients

A one-year, $69,918 grant from Group Health Research Institute Development Fund. Major goals: To describe the initial experiences of patients, primary care providers, and specialty consultants with sharing electronic consultations with patients online and describe the initial adoption and use of shared electronic consultation with patients on line. The principal investigator is James D. Ralston.

 

Patient Perspectives on Routine Suicidality Screening: A Qualitative Evaluation

A one-year, $40,001 grant from Group Health Research Institute Development Fund. Major goals: To leverage behavioral health integration in the Group Health delivery system and examine the patient experience of being assessed for suicidality in the context of routine care. The principal investigator is Julie E. Richards.

 

Public Health Institute (PHI)-National Leadership Academy for the Public’s Health (NLAPH) Cohort 6 (C6) Appalachia

A ten-month, $5,000 grant from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Major goals: To evaluate the effectiveness of this leadership development program and provide information to Public Health Institute to inform course corrections. The Group Health Research Institute lead investigator is Maggie Jones.

 

Public Health Institute (PHI)-National Leadership Academy for the Public’s Health (NLAPH) Cohort 6 (C6) Competitive

A ten-month, $5,000 grant from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Major goals: To evaluate the effectiveness of this leadership development program and provide information to Public Health Institute to inform course corrections. The Group Health Research Institute lead investigator is Maggie Jones.

 

Public Health Institute (PHI)-National Leadership Academy for the Public’s Health (NLAPH) Cohort 6 (C6) US Virgin Islands (USVI)

A ten-month, $5,500 grant from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Major goals: To evaluate the effectiveness of this leadership development program and provide information to Public Health Institute to inform course corrections. The Group Health Research Institute lead investigator is Maggie Jones.

 

Public Health Institute (PHI)-National Leadership Academy for the Public’s Health (NLAPH) Cohort 6 (C6) Zika

A ten-month, $10,000 grant from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Major goals: To evaluate the effectiveness of this leadership development program and provide information to Public Health Institute to inform course corrections. The Group Health Research Institute lead investigator is Maggie Jones.

 

Physician Coaching: Value-Based Referrals

A one-year, $70,088 grant from Group Health Research Institute Development Fund. Major goals: To learn the effects of a physician coaching program on referral rates and patient experience. At the end of this study, we will have preliminary data for a future grant submission. We will also have a curriculum that could be implemented in medical training programs that could be evaluated. The principal investigator is Evette J. Ludman