2024 annual report
Celebrating the accomplishments and contributions of our scientists, physician researchers, and staff
A new approach to our annual report
After a long tradition of highlighting our accomplishments in print, the 2024 Annual Report report marks a transition. This is our program’s first entirely web-based report. The change reflects shifts in our department’s web capabilities and budgetary priorities, as well as broader trends in communications and audience preferences.
The 2024 Annual Report celebrates the accomplishments and contributions of our research program, spotlighting high-impact publications as well as projects that are reshaping clinical practice and advancing medical treatments.
These achievements would not be possible without the people who make up our research program, including more than 40 scientists and 500 staff in the Department of Research & Evaluation and more than 500 Southern California Permanente Medical Group physicians based at medical centers across our region.
Thank you to Nancy Gin, MD, who recently retired from her role as regional medical director of Quality and Clinical Analysis, for her tireless support of our research program. We look forward to continuing to work closely with her successor Letitia Bridges, MD, as we continue to build a research program that improves care and health outcomes for Kaiser Permanente members and the communities we serve.
Investigators and staff
Scientists, physicians, and others in Kaiser Permanente Southern California published more than 730 journal articles in 2024, the highest number in the history of the research program.
Findings spanned a wide range of topics, including more than 100 studies on cancer and cardiovascular disease. These studies extended across the continuum, from preventive measures to treatment strategies to long-term health care needs and outcomes.
Research highlights
Researchers explored the connections between environmental factors and maternal-child health, evaluated safety and effectiveness of vaccines, and sought to understand the incidence and prevalence of chronic conditions in our population.
Learn more in Research Highlights.
Research in the media
More than 50 studies drew media attention in 2024, including articles in top-tier national publications such as The New York Times and The Washington Post. Topics included covered the potential for at-home colon cancer tests to save lives, the importance of exercise, and the increase in rates of postpartum depression.
Researchers and clinicians were called upon to share their expert opinions on multiple topics including food portions, sedentary behavior, and medical devices.
Learn more in Research in the Media.
Awards and accolades
Recent publications have also been recognized with external awards and accolades.
In June 2024, the American Journal of Preventive Medicine selected “Associations of Physical Inactivity and COVID-19 Outcomes Among Subgroups,” as its 2023 Article of the Year. The award recognizes the online interest and engagement around this Kaiser Permanente Southern California study, which showed that physical activity was associated with protection against poor COVID-19 outcomes across demographic and medical characteristics.
Learn more in this video.
In July 2024, scientists and physicians received a Univants of Healthcare Excellence award for Kaiser Permanente Southern California’s LDL-C High Statin Start SureNet program. Researchers found that implementation of this program improved the receipt of high-intensity statin orders by 36%, with patients 32% more likely to fill their statins, 41% more likely to complete a follow-up cholesterol lab, and 21% more likely to lower their LDL-C.
Learn more in this story.
Publications
New and notable projects
Dedicated programs in our region support clinically relevant research to improve the health of our patients and the communities we serve.
In 2024, the Regional Research Committee celebrated its 70th anniversary.
It was established just a year after the founding of the Southern California Permanente Medical Group partnership.
The committee remains a critical hub for engaging research across the region, which now supports multiple programs to engage frontline clinicians and operational leaders in clinically relevant research.
Each year, the committee awards funds from Kaiser Permanente’s Community Health program for research projects led by clinicians and other health care professionals in Southern California. Projects address real-world clinical questions and have the potential to point to smarter ways to prevent and treat common health conditions.
In 2024, the RRC awarded funds for 12 projects, including traditional grant studies and rapid-cycle projects.
Learn more about the 2024 RRC projects.
Care Improvement Research Team
The Care Improvement Research Team focuses on research embedded in clinical practice. Scientists partner with frontline clinicians to identify research questions that are important to patients and health professionals.
The program provides funding for a small group of clinically and operationally relevant projects each year, with guidance and financial support from the Southern California Permanente Medical Group. Findings from CIRT projects are used to improve care and outcomes for Kaiser Permanente members.
In 2024, CIRT supported 12 projects. Learn more about the 2024 projects.
Clinical trials
In 2024, the Kaiser Permanente Southern California clinical trials program supported 473 protocols across 42 therapeutic areas.
Participation in clinical trials keeps Kaiser Permanente at the leading edge of medicine. It also supports access for Kaiser Permanente members to participate in groundbreaking trials for investigational drugs, devices, and vaccines.
Kaiser Permanente Southern California is a top enroller in many important clinical trials, including trials for prevention and treatment of cancer, cardiac conditions, eye disease, infectious diseases, and stroke.
Learn more about 2024 clinical trials.
Research projects
Financial overview
Funding for research at Kaiser Permanente Southern California totaled $98 million in 2024.
Research funding
Kaiser Permanente Southern California research funding comes from a variety of external and internal sources.
In 2024, 73% of total funding came from external sources: 40% from federal grants and 33% from industry and foundation contracts.
Kaiser Permanente provided the remaining funds, through the Kaiser Permanente Community Health program, the Southern California Permanente Medical Group, and the Garfield Memorial Fund.
By the numbers
Leadership and investigators
Our research program encompasses investigators in 6 scientific divisions. Each division is led by a scientific or physician director. Administrative leadership oversees research support, technical, operational, business, and other teams that support research efforts.
Scientific leadership
Benjamin I. Broder, MD, PhD, interim senior director of research
Huong Q. Nguyen, PhD, RN, interim scientific director, Health Services Research & Implementation Science
Kristi Reynolds, PhD, MPH, scientific director, Epidemiologic Research
William J. Towner, MD, FACP, FIDSA, physician director, Clinical Trials
Bechien U. Wu, MD, MPH, physician director, Clinician Research
Anny H. Xiang, PhD, MS, scientific director, Biostatistics Research
Deborah Rohm Young, PhD, MBA, scientific director, Behavioral Research
Administrative leadership
Kim E. Kaiser, EdD, MHA, administrative leader
Annie Chen, MBA, director of research administration, Shared Services
Hai Linh Kerrigan, PharmD, division research administrator, Clinical Trials Research
Allan Slatkin, division research administrator, Behavioral Research, Biostatistics Research, Clinician Research, Epidemiologic Research, and Health Services Research & Implementation Science
Investigators
Division of Behavioral Health
Scientific director
Deborah Rohm Young, PhD, MBA
2024 research scientists
Deborah A. Cohen, MD, MPH
Corinna Koebnick, PhD, MSc
Claudia Nau, PhD
Sonya Negriff, PhD
Laurel Sarfan, PhD
Postdoctoral research fellow
Titilola Labisi, PhD, MHA, MPH
Division of Biostatistics Research
Scientific director
Anny H. Xiang, PhD, MS
2024 research scientists
Heidi Fischer, PhD
Bing Han, PhD
Lei Qian, PhD
Ernest Shen, PhD
Margo A. Sidell, ScD, MSPH
Jeff Slezak, MS
Stanley Xu, PhD, MS
Hui Zhou, PhD, MS
Division of Clinical Trials Research
Physician director
William J. Towner, MD, FACP, FIDSA, Infectious Diseases, Los Angeles
2024 principal investigators by therapeutic area
Bone Marrow Transplant
Ricardo T. Spielberger, MD, Los Angeles
Cardiology
Somjot S. Brar, MD, MPH, Los Angeles
Jeffrey Cavendish, MD, San Diego
Nigel Gupta, MD, Los Angeles
Jonathan Neyer, MD, Los Angeles
Gastroenterology
Gareth S. Dulai, MD, Downey
Kevin T. Kao, MD, Downey
Bechien U. Wu, MD, MPH, Los Angeles
Genetics and Genomics
Divya Vats, MD, Los Angeles
Gynecologic Oncology
Scott E. Lentz, MD, FACS, Los Angeles
Devansu Tewari, MD, MBA, Orange County
Hematology Oncology
Ashraf, R., Aziz, MD, Orange County
Gary L. Buchshacher Jr., MD, PhD, Los Angeles
Sujatha Murali, MD, San Marcos
Eric McGary, MD, PhD, MPH, Los Angeles
Helen Moon, MD, Riverside
Hepatology
Mamie Dong, MD, San Diego
Amandeep Sahota, MD, Los Angeles
Infectious Diseases
William J. Towner, MD, FACP, FIDSA, Los Angeles
Jonathan Truong, MD, Antelope Valley
Nephrology
John J. Sim, MD, Los Angeles
Hui Xue, MD, MSc, San Diego
Neurology
Abel Wu, MD, Los Angeles
Neurology-Oncology
Richard Green, MD, Los Angeles
Neurology-Vascular (Stroke)
Zahra A. Ajani, MD, Los Angeles
Pamela Cheng, DO, Los Angeles
William Neil, MD, San Diego
Navdeep Sangha, MD, Los Angeles
Neurosurgery
Harsimran S. Brara, MD, FAANS, Los Angeles
Vaninder Chhabra, MD, San Bernardino County
Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery
Rohit Garg, MD, MBA, Orange County
Ophthalmology
Michelle Britt, MD, Baldwin Park
Vivienne S. Hau, MD, PhD, Riverside
Damien Rodger, MD, PhD, Los Angeles
Neil M. Vyas, MD, Panorama City
Kapil M. Sampat, DO, Riverside
Orthopedics
Jeffrey I. Kessler, MD, Los Angeles
Pediatric Oncology
Robert M. Cooper, MD, Los Angeles
Pediatric Pulmonology
Muhammad Saeed, MD, Los Angeles
Pulmonary
Aung Htoo, MD, Kern County
Kenneth Wei, MD, Los Angeles
Radiation Oncology
Aakash Batra, MD, Bellflower
Radiology – Neuroradiology
Lei Feng, MD, PhD, Los Angeles
Conrad Liang, MD, PhD, San Bernardino County
Rheumatology
Steve S. Lee, DO, San Bernardino County
Andrew Nguyen, MD, Orange County
Sleep Medicine
Prasanth Manthena, MD, Los Angeles
Surgical Oncology
Vikram Attaluri, MD, FACS, FASCRS, Los Angeles
Elisabeth McLemore, MD, FACS, Los Angeles
Urogynecology
Kimberly Ferrante, MD, MAS, San Diego
Keisha Dyer, MD, San Diego
Shawn A. Menefee, MD, San Diego
John N. Nguyen, MD, Downey
Christopher Tenggardjaja, MD, Los Angeles
Emily L. Whitcomb, MD, MAS, Orange County
Vascular Surgery
Catherine Chang, MD, San Diego
Linda Chun, MD, Los Angeles
Edward Plecha, MD, San Diego
Division of Clinician Research
Physician director and chair of Regional Research Committee
Bechien U. Wu, MD, MPH
2024 Regional Research Committee
Antelope Valley
Jonathan Truong, MD, area research chair
David Bronstein, MD, vice area research chair
Baldwin Park
Gaurav Khanna, MD, area research chair
Bobeck S. Modjtahedi, MD, vice area research chair
Downey
Eugene A. Chu, MD, area research chair
Rajeev Attam, MD, vice area research chair
Los Angeles
Mingsum Lee, MD, area research chair
Javed Sheikh, MD, vice area research chair
Orange County
Emily L. Whitcomb, MD, MAS, area research chair
Ali Ghobadi, MD, vice area research chair
Panorama City
Shireen Fatemi, MD, area research chair
Ahmed Dehal, MD, vice area research chair
Regional Laboratory
Darryl Palmer-Toy, MD, PhD, area research chair
Riverside
Rachid A. Elkoustaf, MD, area research chair
Vivienne S. Hau, MD, vice area research chair
San Bernardino County
Conrad Liang, MD, PhD, area research chair
Steve S. Lee, DO, vice area research chair
San Diego
Shawn A. Menefee, MD, area research chair
South Bay
David S. Cohen, MD, area research chair
Paulina N.Tran, DO, vice area research chair
West Los Angeles/Kern County
Michael J. Fassett, MD, area research chair
Daniel T. Lang, MD, vice area research chair
Woodland Hills/Ventura County
Armen Aboulian, MD, area research chair
Monique George, MD, vice area research chair
Department of Research & Evaluation
Deborah Rohm Young, PhD, MBA, area research chair
Clinician Investigator Program
2024 appointees
Fu-Sheng Chou, MD, PhD (2022–2024)
Ahmed Dehal, MD, MPH, FACS, FSSO, FRCS (2022–2024)
Cheng-Wei Huang, MD (2023–2025)
Dennis Hwang, MD (2019–2021, 2023–2025)
Richard Treger, MD (2024-2026)
Previous appointees
Raymond Chen, MD, DPhil (2016–2018)
Kimberly Ferrante, MD, MAS (2019–2021)
Mingsum Lee, MD, MPH (2021–2023)
Bobeck S. Modjtahedi, MD (2018–2020, 2020–2022)
Casey K. Ng, MD (2017–2019)
Chileshe Nkonde-Price, MD, MS, FACC (2021-2023)
Chunyuan Qiu, MD, MS (2018-2020, 2020-2022)
Joan J. Ryoo, MD, MSHS (2018–2020)
Navdeep Sangha, MD (2017–2019)
John J. Sim, MD (2016–2018)
Devansu Tewari, MD, MBA (2016–2018)
Emily L. Whitcomb, MD, MAS (2017–2019)
Bechien U. Wu, MD, MPH (2017–2019)
Hui Xue, MD, MMSc (2016–2018, 2018–2020)
Affiliated researchers
Kaiser Permanente affiliated investigators, including active and retired SCPMG partners:
Bradley Ackerson, MD
David Braun, MD
Jeffrey Brettler, MD
Sirichai Chayasirisobhon, MD, FAAN
Suresh Gurbani, MD
David Harmon, MD
Michael Kanter, MD
Annette Langer-Gould, MD, PhD
Neal Lonky, MD
Eric Macy, MD
Lisa Nyberg, MD, MPH, MS
Jonathan Polikoff, MD
David Sacks, MD
Michael Schatz, MD, MS
Joanne E. Schottinger, MD
Warren Shapiro, MD
Lester Thompson, MD
Robert S. Zeiger, MD, PhD
Division of Epidemiologic Research
Scientific director
Kristi Reynolds, PhD, MPH
2024 research scientists
Annette L. Adams, PhD, MPH
Jaejin An, PhD
Chun Chao, PhD, MS
Wansu Chen, PhD, MS
Darios Getahun, MD, PhD, MPH
Reina Haque, PhD, MPH
Rulin Hechter, MD, PhD, MS
Matthew T. Mefford, PhD, MPH
Annette Regan, PhD, MPH
Sara Y. Tartof, PhD, MPH
Hung Fu Tseng, PhD, MPH
2024 postdoctoral research fellows
Nehaa Khadka, PhD, MPH
Jennifer Ku, PhD, MPH
Nana Mensah, PhD, MPH
Amrita Mukherjee, PhD, MPH
Emily Rayens, PhD, MPH
Adovich Rivera, MD, PhD
2024 Epidemic Intelligence Service officer
Rudy A. Patrick, PhD, MPH
Investigators from other institutions
Katia Bruxvoort, PhD
Division of Health Services Research & Implementation Science
Interim scientific director
Huong Q. Nguyen, PhD, RN
2024 research scientists
Heidi Brown, MD, MAS (Dr. Brown is also a practicing urogynecologist with SCPMG.)
Karen J. Coleman, PhD, MS
Erin E. Hahn, PhD, MPH
Aniket A. Kawatkar, PhD, MS
Brian S. Mittman, PhD
Previous annual reports
2023
2022
Feature stories:
- Serving others by joining a cancer clinical trial
- The rise of in-home cardiac rehabilitation
- Cancer research focuses on patients’ total health
- The COVID-19 aftermath: Researchers and physicians seek answers
- Uncovering links between air pollution and COVID-19
- Increasing vaccine equity in Southern California
- Responding to a community outbreak through expanded access
- Research committed to firearm injury prevention
- Understanding racial disparities and outcomes in bariatric surgery
2021
Feature stories:
- Patients are pivotal in COVID-19 vaccine research
- R&E answers key vaccine safety and effectiveness questions
- Simple text-based platform proves powerful for monitoring symptoms after vaccination
- Exceptional collaboration tracks emerging variants in real time
- Beyond the virus: Health impacts of the pandemic
- Physician trailblazers
2020
Feature stories:
- Determining who is most at risk from COVID-19
- Clinical trials bring hope during global pandemic
- Searching for evidence to guide COVID-19 care
- Scientists research masking adherence with communities across the country
- Clinical trials are driving a revolution in stroke care
- CDC disease detectives at KPSC build bridges to national COVID-19 response
2019
2018
2017
Feature stories:
- Targeting outreach to reduce lead levels in children
- Using real-world evidence to inform decision-makers about vaccine effectiveness
- Creating better ways to determine hypertension in children and exploring disparities in hypertension
- Producing real-world evidence from our cancer clinical trials
- Finding solutions to real-world clinical problems is what fuels our biostatisticians
- Developing decision-support tools that allow physicians in easily determine risk