Q&A with Physician Researcher of the Year: Dr. Michael Fassett
Michael J. Fassett, MD, came to work at Kaiser Permanente in 2000. Since then, his dedication to his patients through research has grown. He’s published more than 50 research papers in peer-reviewed journals. Now, as the regional physician-in-charge for Maternal-Fetal Medicine and the area research ...
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Five questions for … Dr. Annette Langer-Gould
Annette Langer-Gould, MD, PhD, is a translational neuroscientist with the Southern California Permanente Medical Group. She treats people with multiple sclerosis (MS) at the Kaiser Permanente ...
COVID bivalent booster protects well against hospitalization
A Kaiser Permanente study shows the Pfizer-BioNTech BNT162b2 BA.4/5 bivalent mRNA vaccine helped protect against a range of COVID symptoms and was effective against the COVID XBB strain sublineages. ...
Kaiser Permanente Southern California to lead CDC-funded center to improve outbreak and disease prediction
Kaiser Permanente Southern California has been tapped to lead an innovation center that will develop advanced modeling approaches to better predict disease outbreaks and prepare the United States ...
5 questions for … Dr. Rulin Hechter
June 30, 2022Rulin Hechter, MD, PhD, is an infectious disease epidemiologist in the Department of Research & Evaluation who focuses on the prevention and treatment of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. She received her medical training from Suzhou Medical College and her master’s degree in epidemiology and biostatistics from Fudan University, both in China. She received ...Read more...Down syndrome linked to higher risk of severe COVID-19
June 28, 2022Before COVID-19 vaccines became available, people with Down syndrome were less likely to be diagnosed with COVID-19 than people without the condition, according to a study of more than 12,000 Kaiser Permanente Southern California members published on June 24, 2022, in The Journal of Infectious Diseases. However, the study found that people with Down syndrome faced ...Read more...Dr. Anny Xiang honored with prestigious American Diabetes Association award
June 27, 2022Anny Xiang, PhD, MS, scientific director of the Division of Biostatics Research at the Department of Research & Evaluation, received the American Diabetes Association’s 2022 Norbert Freinkel Award on June 4, 2022. The lecture award is the ADA’s highest award for outstanding contributions in the field of diabetes and pregnancy. “Dr. Xiang’s body of work has ...Read more...COVID-related hospitalizations are rare after Paxlovid treatment
June 21, 2022In December 2021, the Pfizer-BioNTech medication Paxlovid received emergency authorization as a treatment to prevent severe health problems from COVID-19 that could lead to hospitalization and death. But recently, small studies with less than a dozen people began to show up in the media linking the medication to a rebound in COVID-19 symptoms following recovery. On ...Read more...Omicron variant infections less severe than delta
June 13, 2022A study of patients at Kaiser Permanente in Southern California showed that when both the delta and omicron variants were circulating in December 2021, patients who had SARS-CoV-2 infections with the omicron variant had substantially less risk of severe illness and shorter hospital stays than those infected with the delta variant. The study was published ...Read more...New approach reduces colon cancer deaths
June 13, 2022A study published June 6, 2022, in The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety showed that a comprehensive approach to improving colon cancer care at Kaiser Permanente in Southern California resulted in a 24% decrease in mortality over 7 years. “If a new drug or surgical procedure reduced deaths this dramatically, it would be ...Read more...Clinical research center opens at Los Angeles Medical Center
May 31, 2022A new dedicated clinical research space at the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center provides researchers and staff with expanded opportunities to bring groundbreaking clinical research to Kaiser Permanente Southern California members. Located on the first floor of 1505 N. Edgemont on the medical center campus, the 1,400-square-foot Kaiser Permanente Clinical Research Center at Los Angeles ...Read more...5 questions for … Dr. William Towner
May 19, 2022William Towner, MD, FACP, FIDSA, is the regional physician director for the Division of Clinical Trials and leads the Clinician Investigator Program for the Southern California Permanente Medical Group. He also serves in a leadership role for HIV services at Kaiser Permanente Southern California. He was extensively involved in research on infectious diseases since 2000 ...Read more...COVID-19 vaccine protection against hospitalization wanes for the most vulnerable
April 25, 2022Research released in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine shows that a booster dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine provides strong protection, roughly 80% in the first few months against hospital admissions and emergency department visits caused by the delta and omicron variants. However, against omicron, this protection wanes over time for immunocompromised individuals — even after ...Read more...Heart attacks increased in days after 2020 election
April 20, 2022A Kaiser Permanente study conducted in Southern and Northern California found hospitalizations for heart attack, stroke, and heart failure were 17% higher in the 5 days after the 2020 election than in the same 5 days 2 weeks before the election. The study was published April 20, 2022, in JAMA Network Open. “This study of the ...Read more...