Featured Image of Top News Story: Five questions for … Dr. Emily Rayens

Five questions for … Dr. Emily Rayens

Emily Rayens, PhD, MPH,  is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Division of Epidemiologic Research of the Department of Research & Evaluation. Her research interests include infectious diseases and vaccine efficacy and safety. She began her fellowship at Kaiser Permanente in 2023, but it is ...

  • People on dialysis have higher risk from COVID-19

    December 1, 2020
    Kidney dialysis patients should take extra precautions to avoid being infected with COVID-19. A new Kaiser Permanente Southern California study found patients on dialysis have 18 times higher risk of hospitalization and death from COVID-19 than people who do not have end-stage kidney disease. Intuitively, the physicians and researchers knew that these patients may be at ...
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  • Five questions for … Dr. Chunyuan Qiu

    December 1, 2020
    Chunyuan Qiu, MD, MS, is a clinician investigator for the Department of Research & Evaluation and the chief of the Department of Anesthesiology at Kaiser Permanente Baldwin Park Medical Center.  He is actively involved in teaching regional anesthesia fellows. In his practice, he focuses on the long-term outcomes after surgery and anesthesia. What is the value to ...
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  • Kaiser Permanente San Diego enrolling patients in monoclonal antibody trial

    November 30, 2020
    In November, emergency departments at the Kaiser Permanente San Diego and Zion medical centers began enrolling patients in the ACTIV-2 Outpatient Monoclonal Antibodies and Other Therapies trial, which is sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. “This trial will evaluate the safety and efficacy of treatments for people who have COVID-19 but aren’t ...
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  • Seeking early detection for pancreatic cancer

    November 23, 2020
    Earlier this year, much-loved game show host Alex Trebec died from a cancer that’s rare but extremely deadly: pancreatic cancer. In fact, the disease is one of the leading causes of cancer deaths in the United States. Pancreatic cancer’s high mortality rate is due in large part to a lack of effective screening methods, according to ...
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  • New tool helps predict outcomes for COVID-19

    November 20, 2020
    A study published in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine this month reports on an assessment tool developed by Kaiser Permanente researchers and physicians that helps ensure patients get the right care, when they need it, by accurately predicting the probability that patients with COVID-19 symptoms will experience severe disease or even death. “As the pandemic ...
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  • 2016 presidential election associated with uptick in heart attacks and stroke

    November 2, 2020
    The hospitalization rate for heart attacks and strokes was 1.62 times higher in the 2 days immediately after the 2016 presidential election than the same 2 days in the week before the election, new research shows. “We saw the same increase in acute cardiovascular disease (CVD) events across sex, age, and race and ethnicity groups,” said ...
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  • Five questions for … Dr. Katia Bruxvoort

    November 2, 2020
    Katia Bruxvoort, PhD, MPH, is an infectious disease epidemiologist and post-doctoral research fellow for the Department of Research & Evaluation. She is a co-investigator on several post-licensure vaccine safety and effectiveness studies (hepatitis B vaccine, shingles vaccine, influenza vaccines). She has broad interests in infectious disease prevention, targeted treatment, the intersection of social needs and health, ...
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  • Scientists and physicians conduct research to improve COVID-19 testing and treatment

    November 2, 2020
    Researchers and physicians within Kaiser Permanente Southern California continue to find better ways to test, treat, and care for patients with COVID-19. In late October, a few of the researchers and physicians shared their latest projects at a Department of Research & Evaluation Research Seminar. The COVID-19 projects included examining risk factors for mortality in younger ...
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  • Value of quick noninvasive follow-up tests for chest pain patients questioned

    November 2, 2020
    Researchers at Kaiser Permanente are always working to find better and more cost-effective tests and treatments possible for members. Recently, Adam Sharp, MD, MSc, and Aniket Kawatkar, PhD, MS, of Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation led a team evaluating the effectiveness of noninvasive cardiac tests, such as treadmill stress tests, within 72 ...
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  • Applying epidemiology to change care delivery and improve health

    November 2, 2020
    Epidemiologists in the Department of Research & Evaluation apply rigorous research methods to address important health questions that have the potential to change clinical practice and health care delivery. “Epidemiology is the study of patterns of diseases and other health conditions in populations,” said Kristi Reynolds, PhD, MPH, director of the Division of Epidemiologic Research. “We ...
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