About Us

As we reflect on 2025, we recognize a year marked by both challenge and resilience.

January’s Southern California wildfires deeply affected our research community, displacing many due to evacuations, smoke or other property damage, and even loss of homes. In the midst of hardship, our department came together to support one another and our communities. Many donated goods or volunteered their time. Others used their scientific expertise to study the short- and long-term effects of wildfire, from health care utilization to potential impacts on pregnant mothers and their children.

In the months that followed, our research program, like many others around the country, navigated an uncertain funding environment. Throughout this period, our leadership team, scientists, physician researchers, and staff responded with focus, adaptability, and a shared sense of purpose. Even as our funding mix evolved, we secured new grants and contracts, ending the year on solid financial footing and with significant scientific achievements.

These accomplishments reflect the dedication of our research scientists, physician researchers, and staff. We are grateful for the rigor, collaboration, and commitment each individual and team brings to our department, and for the way our community supports one another while advancing care and discovery.

We extend our sincere thanks to Kim Kaiser, EdD, for her administrative leadership from mid-2021 through 2025, who took on a new role as Chief Administrative Officer for the Downey Medical Center in January 2026. Her steady guidance strengthened our department and expanded our connections with the SCPMG Quality organization. We look forward to working closely with her successor, Julie John, MA, MSN, RN, as we advance research that improves care and health outcomes for Kaiser Permanente members and the communities we serve.

Scientists, physicians, and others in Kaiser Permanente Southern California published 772 journal articles in 2025.

Despite a challenging environment, our research teams published the highest number of journal articles in the history of the research program, exceeding the already high numbers recorded during the peak COVID-19 years. Publications covered diverse areas of focus, including cancer, child and adolescent health, cardiometabolic health, infectious disease, mental health, and vaccines. This work spanned the full continuum of care, informing preventive strategies, clinical treatment decisions, and long-term health needs and outcomes.

Research with real-world impact

Our research turns evidence into everyday care and healthier communities. By testing solutions in real-world settings, we remove barriers, improve workflows, and help successful approaches spread across systems.

One example is an in-office hemoglobin A1C testing program for diabetes care. With results available during the visit, clinicians can adjust treatment immediately. A study published January 13, 2025, in the Journal of General Internal Medicine found improved blood sugar levels among patients with poorly controlled diabetes, showing how a simple workflow change can improve outcomes.

We also generate evidence that shapes healthier environments. Over 25 years of parks research, investigators have shown how design and programming support physical activity and well-being. Communities use this evidence to guide investments that help more people move and connect.

In specialty care, clinical trials help patients benefit from new discoveries sooner. At Kaiser Permanente Riverside Medical Center, a retinal research center expands access to studies such as gene therapy and new stem cell delivery techniques. By integrating research into care, we accelerate progress while protecting vision and quality of life.

Many of our published studies identify practical ways to improve outcomes. Examples include reduced dementia risk among older adults who received the shingles vaccine, new insights on opioid tapering and overdose risk, and evidence that physical activity supports postpartum weight loss.

Learn more in 2025 Research Highlights.

Findings that make headlines

Our research program made headlines throughout 2025, with dozens of studies covered by leading national and regional media including the Associated Press, the Los Angeles Times, NPR, and NBC News. This coverage amplified how evidence generated in our care settings informs decisions that affect patients and communities.

Reporters focused on a wide range of topics, from emergency response and virtual care during the Los Angeles wildfires to studies on the protective benefits of the shingles vaccine. Media also covered practice-changing findings on intensive blood pressure control for patients with chronic kidney disease and research on suicide prevention following implementation of the Zero Suicide Model.

Our experts were in the news as well. Physicians and scientists were tapped to interpret new findings and explain what they mean for care delivery. Their voices helped translate complex research into actionable, patient-centered insight, strengthening trust in Kaiser Permanente Southern California as a source of credible health information.

Learn more in Research in the Media. 

In 2025, the clinical trials team supported more than 430 active clinical trials protocols across 39 therapeutic areas, offering our patients opportunities to participate in research that may shape the future standards of care.

Our clinical trials program connects patients with leading‑edge research, offering opportunities to access potentially life-saving treatments, spanning investigational medications and devices as well as prevention strategies.

Highlighted cancer studies include trials that add targeted therapy to lung cancer immunotherapy, use post-surgery blood tests to guide colon cancer chemotherapy, and test de-escalated regimens that preserve outcomes. Other studies aim to reduce long-term side effects of breast cancer treatment and compare new hormone options for advanced prostate cancer.

Our general medicine portfolio spans multiple therapeutic areas, including studies of new devices and therapies for heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, macular degeneration and high-risk pregnancy. Prevention trials test longer-acting HIV prevention and immune-based acne strategies.

Learn more about our 2025 Selected Clinical Trials.

Embedding research in clinical practice

The Care Improvement Research Team advances research that is embedded in day-to-day clinical practice. Scientists collaborate with frontline clinicians and operational leaders to identify research questions that matter most to patients and health professionals.

Each year, the program funds a small set of projects that are clinically and operationally relevant, with guidance and financial support from the Southern California Permanente Medical Group. Results from CIRT projects help improve care delivery and health outcomes for Kaiser Permanente members.

In 2025, CIRT funded 14 projects.

Learn more about the 2025 CIRT projects.

Engaging physicians in research

The Regional Research Committee serves as a key hub for engaging physicians in research across the region. It supports multiple programs to connect frontline clinicians and operational leaders with 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. These studies tackle practical clinical questions and can help identify more effective ways to prevent and treat common health conditions.

In 2025, the committee awarded funds to support 16 studies in 3 categories:  Traditional grants, RRC Ambient AI grants, and RRC-KPSOM Research Program Development grants.

Learn more about the 2025 RRC projects.

Despite a challenging environment, our research program continued to attract new funds and ended the year on solid financial footing.

Kaiser Permanente Southern California research funding comes from a variety of external and internal sources.

In 2025, 70% of total funding came from external sources. Of that, 50% came from federal grants and 50% 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.

There were more than 460 funded research projects in 2025 in Kaiser Permanente Southern California, including new and ongoing studies.

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