As a research center embedded within Kaiser Permanente’s large and dynamic health care system, our investigators have a unique opportunity to apply scientific expertise to real-world clinical problems, translate findings into practice, and share what we learn with the broader community.
Dr. Rulin Hechter is an infectious disease epidemiologist in the Department of Research & Evaluation and an adjunct assistant professor of Epidemiology at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her research focuses on the prevention and treatment of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. She also studies the impact of psychiatric disorders and substance abuse on health outcomes and care engagement among patients affected by other chronic comorbidities, including HIV/AIDS. Her ...
Researchers at the Department of Research & Evaluation are working to make the final life transitions better for patients and their families. Using analytical analysis, interviews, data queries and more, they aim to find out what people want in their final months and days, and how to improve care during that time. “The goal of ...
The National Institutes of Health has awarded Kaiser Permanente a grant to find a way to predict early-stage pancreatic cancer. Leading the project is principal investigator Bechien Wu, MD, MPH, a clinician investigator with the Department of Research & Evaluation and a gastroenterologist with the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center. “Pancreatic cancer is the ...
In many ways, the initial symptoms of influenza and respiratory syncytial virus are indistinguishable. But, research published in Clinical Infectious Diseases last month showed that RSV infection may be even more dangerous than the flu in older adults. The Kaiser Permanente Southern California study of hospitalized adults revealed that RSV infection, a highly contagious respiratory ...
Since publishing in JAMA about strong associations between a mother’s diabetes and autism in 2015, Anny Xiang, PhD, a researcher with the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation, expanded that work to consider other neurological development disorders to find more nuances with the association, including one published just last month. A study ...
One way researchers at Kaiser Permanente work to make our next generation healthier is by studying children’s environments before birth. Recently several researchers looked at how mothers’ bodies manage sugar—including the type of diabetes that develops in pregnancy, called gestational diabetes—affected their children’s risk for diabetes, overweight/obesity, and cognitive impairment. Researchers at the Department of ...
Our inaugural IMPACT newsletter features stories on end-of-life research, the dangers of RSV in adults, a new grant to help predict early-stage pancreatic cancer, and more.
In September, the Department of Research & Evaluation will host the American College of Epidemiology Annual Meeting, which will address the theme of “Real-World Epidemiologic Evidence in Policy and Practice.”
Details on the conference and registration information will be released in early May. Please check the meeting webpage for updates on key dates and deadlines.
Investigators with the Division of Health Services Research & Implementation Science study how care is delivered, identify opportunities for care improvement, and implement new approaches for organizing and delivering health services. The division brings together scientists with diverse expertise and training, including emergency medicine, epidemiology, health services research, implementation science, internal medicine, nursing, pharmaceutical economics, and pulmonology.
The division is home to the Care Improvement Research Team, a research team embedded within Kaiser Permanente Southern California’s quality improvement ecosystem. The team works closely with clinical and operational partners at Kaiser Permanente Southern California to identify, prioritize, and solve problems related to quality and affordability. Its goal is to reduce unnecessary practice variation, improve affordability, and transform care.