Five questions for … Dr. Heidi Brown
Heidi Brown, MD, MAS, is a urogynecologist and a dissemination and implementation scientist who joined the Department of Research & Evaluation in August 2023. Her research focuses on improving access to effective solutions for pelvic floor disorders such as bladder and bowel incontinence and pelvic ...
Featured News
No increased risk associated with flu vaccines given in closely spaced pregnancies
Monitoring of about 45,000 pregnant people receiving flu vaccines in each of 2 successive pregnancies showed no increased risk of side effects or health issues, according to a Kaiser Permanente study ...
Beta blockers not all the same for patients with heart failure and CKD
A Kaiser Permanente Southern California study showed that 1 heart-failure medication worked best among the 3 most commonly used to prevent illness and disease among patients with chronic kidney disease ...
Gay men may be aging faster
Gay men had shorter age-adjusted telomere length, which is a biomarker of aging, than straight men, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology. “While ...
Living longer and better after cancer
June 12, 2020Clinical trials play a vital role in advancing cancer treatment at Kaiser Permanente, improving patients’ survival and quality of life. “Until the day that cancer is cured, there’s always room for improvement,” said Helen Moon, MD, a hematologist and oncologist at the Kaiser Permanente Riverside Medical Center. Helping to achieve that improvement is Dr. Moon’s role as ...Read more...5 questions for … Dr. Deborah Cohen
May 20, 2020Deborah A. Cohen, MD, MPH, an international expert on the health benefit of parks, is the newest scientist at the Department of Research & Evaluation. She began working in the department’s Division of Behavioral Research in January. She previously worked as a senior physician policy researcher at the RAND Corporation. She has served on panels for ...Read more...Launching a multisite clinical trial in the midst of a pandemic
May 19, 2020In early March 2020, as it became clear the novel coronavirus was closing in on Southern California, clinical trials leaders from the Department of Research & Evaluation began assessing options for an investigational treatment that could be studied through clinical trials. With no approved medications to fight COVID-19, the need for an investigational option to ...Read more...Advancing treatments through clinical trials
May 19, 2020Kaiser Permanente’s clinical trials program helps advance treatment for health conditions ranging from heart disease and cancer to infectious diseases, such as HIV and COVID-19. William Towner, MD, FACP, FIDSA, physician director for clinical trials at Kaiser Permanente Southern California, has seen firsthand how clinical trials can contribute to the development of more effective and safer ...Read more...Stroke program integrates clinical trials
May 17, 2020At Kaiser Permanente Southern California, physicians and researchers have been transforming stroke care, from simply treating the patients to also enrolling those not helped by the standard care into a clinical trials program, which expands the treatment options. “Our stroke program shows how Kaiser Permanente is invested in growing our clinical care through clinical trials,” said ...Read more...English and non-English speakers get equal treatment in emergency departments
May 17, 2020Kaiser Permanente Southern California researchers set out to understand the importance of emergency department patients and physicians speaking the same language by looking at the health outcomes and quality of care for patients with chest pain. They hypothesized that patients speaking a different language than their physician may have worse outcomes. They were happy to find ...Read more...COVID-19 grant award for urgently needed cardiovascular research
May 1, 2020Investigators from Kaiser Permanente Southern California, led by Jaejin An, PhD, are among 12 scientific teams selected by the American Heart Association to fast-track research on heart and brain health related to COVID-19. The team will study the risks associated with taking antihypertensive medications in patients with confirmed COVID-19 infection and high blood pressure. “In conversations with ...Read more...New rapid-cycle research projects seek actionable insights on COVID-19
April 30, 2020The Kaiser Permanente Southern California Regional Research Committee and the Care Improvement Research Team recently initiated 4 new rapid-cycle research projects that will help answer questions regarding prognosis for patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19Read more...Declines in heart attacks greater among men than women
February 18, 2020In a study published in the American Heart Association scientific journal Circulation, Kaiser Permanente research scientists report a steady decline in heart attacks for both men and women enrolled in the health system from 2000 to 2014, although that rate of decline slowed among women in the last 5 years of the study. “The study points ...Read more...Resident research improves patient care
January 29, 2020Over recent years, patient care at Kaiser Permanente Southern California has improved in many ways due to what might be considered an unlikely source: our residents’ research. In the Pediatrics Department at the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center, resident research has led to better booking of follow-up appointments and fewer unexpected intubations among newborns. It ...Read more...