Each year, the Regional Research Committee recognizes an outstanding physician researcher for their contributions to medical research, clinical care, and mentoring young professionals. The 2025 Physician Researcher of the Year was Mingsum Lee, MD, PhD,  chief of service in the Department of Cardiology at the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center.

 

Research projects funded by the committee address real-world clinical questions that have the potential to point to smarter 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.

 

Studies for this year focused on important topics including hypocalcemia in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), women experiencing adverse outcomes following urinary tract infections (UTI), psychological distress among palliative care patients, and optimizing operating room efficiency.

 

The Committee funded the following projects in 2025:

 

Traditional projects

 

Incidence and risk factors for hypocalcemia in chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage 4/5 patients who received denosumab for osteoporosis in Kaiser Permanente Southern California

 

Eric M. Tong, MD, Nephrology, Woodland Hills

 

Predictors of adverse outcomes following urinary tract infections (UTI) diagnosis in adult women: A comprehensive analysis

 

Ghanshyam Yadav, MD (fellow), Female Pelvic Medicine & Reconstructive Surgery, San Diego

 

Performance of the 2023 American Heart Association Predicting Risk of cardiovascular disease EVENTs (PREVENT) equations in a large multiethnic population

 

Mingsum Lee, MD, PhD, Cardiology, Los Angeles

 

Safety and therapeutic equivalency of the conversion of Glimepiride to Glipizide in older adults

 

Eric A. Lee, MD, Internal Medicine, West Los Angeles

 

Characteristics of coccidioidomycosis over the 10-year period from 2013-2023 in Kaiser Permanente Southern California service areas

 

Soe Win, MD, Infectious Disease, Kern County

 

How does psychological distress affect healthcare utilization among palliative care patients?

 

Dov Shalman, MD, Palliative Care, Los Angeles

 

Neuropsychiatric safety of glucagon like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonist (GLP- 1 Receptor Agonist) medications used in the treatment of adult obesity with or without diabetes

 

Mahnaz Pezeshpour, MD, Psychiatry, Orange County

 

A comprehensive population-based analysis of sociodemographic risk factors for urticarial syndromes; 2017-2024

 

Javed Sheikh, MD, Allergy & Immunology, Los Angeles

 

Trospium use and cognitive outcomes in older adults: A nested case-control analysis

 

Christopher Tenggardjaja, MD, Urology, Los Angeles

 

Perioperative glucose monitoring and the rate of surgical site infections (SSI)

 

Roy Braganza, MD, Anesthesiology, Los Angeles

 

Evaluating the risk of germline genetic mutation and helicobacter pylori on gastric cancer

 

Will Takakura, MD, Gastroenterology, Panorama City

 

Impact of outdoor environmental exposures during pregnancy and the development of food allergies in infants

 

Bruce D Ball, MD (PGY-4; fellow), Allergy & Immunology, Los Angeles

 

RRC Ambient AI grants

 

Utilization of artificial Intelligence-driven notes in the emergency department. Analyzing quality and the effects on patient outcomes

 

William Krauss, MD, Emergency Medicine, San Diego

 

Comparing the quality of ambient AI augmented ambulatory surgeon notes and traditional documentation

 

Aaron Wilcox, MD, General Surgery, Orange County

 

RRC-KPSOM Research Program Development grants

 

Optimizing operating room efficiency: A data-driven analysis of specialty-specific procedures, workflow timepoints, utilization strategies, and outcomes

 

Aravind Chandrashekar, MD, MBA, Urology, Riverside

 

Pediatric and adolescent gender care in Southern California Kaiser Permanente: Creation of a longitudinal database for retrospective and prospective studies of gender care outcomes

 

Joshua May, MD, Pediatrics/Pediatric Endocrinology, Los Angeles