Dr. William Towner named 2022 SCPMG Physician Researcher of the Year
William J. Towner, MD, FACP, FIDSA, physician director of the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Clinical Trials Program, has been named the 2022 Southern California Permanente Medical Group Physician Researcher of the Year. The award has been given each year since 2007 to recognize a physician ...
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Original COVID-19 vaccine booster effect wanes against BA.4 and BA.5
A Kaiser Permanente study published January 12, 2023, in Nature Communications shows that third and fourth doses of the monovalent Moderna mRNA-1273 COVID-19 vaccine lose protection against infection ...
5 questions for … Dr. Hung Fu Tseng
Hung Fu Tseng, PhD, MPH, is a senior scientist in the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation and a professor at the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of ...
Quality improvement reduces blood pressure control disparities
A Kaiser Permanente Southern California quality improvement program, which harnessed clinical and culturally responsive care strategies, nearly halved the racial disparities previously seen in blood ...
5 questions for … Dr. Lewei Duan
September 16, 2022A health economist, Lewei Duan, PhD, MS, is a post-doctoral research fellow at the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation. She has special interests in improving health care delivery systems, specifically in maximizing health and well-being for older adults and underserved populations. Prior to her current position, Dr. Duan worked as a ...Read more...Remdesivir may reduce hospital readmissions for COVID-19 patients
September 15, 2022A study of Kaiser Permanente Southern California members who were hospitalized for COVID-19 identifies key factors associated with lower chances of readmission — including treatment with the medication remdesivir and delaying discharge until 10 days have passed since COVID-19 symptoms began. “This study supports a continued role for remdesivir in treating COVID-19,” said the study’s lead ...Read more...Antidepressants linked to lower risk of prostate cancer recurrence
September 9, 2022In a study of more than 10,000 Kaiser Permanente members diagnosed with both prostate cancer and depression, those who used antidepressants had a lower risk of cancer recurrence. These findings appeared September 9, 2022, in Cancer Causes & Control. “Our research highlights how important it is for patients with prostate cancer to be screened and treated ...Read more...Fewer hospitalizations for home-based cardiac rehabilitation patients
August 25, 2022Patients who participated in in-home cardiac rehabilitation had fewer hospitalizations over 12 months than patients who participated in center-based cardiac rehabilitation, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published August 25, 2022, in JAMA Network Open. “The remarkable thing we found in this study of more than 2,500 diverse patients was that health advantages of home-based cardiac ...Read more...Increased health care use among patients after COVID-19
August 12, 2022A study led by Kaiser Permanente in Southern California of patients from 8 health care organizations across the United States showed that COVID-19 was associated with a 4% increase in use of health care services over the 6 months after initial infection. The study was published August 12, 2022, in JAMA Network Open. Some people who were ...Read more...Child abuse–related emergency department visits increased after pandemic lock-down
August 8, 2022The rate of emergency department visits associated with child abuse or neglect at Kaiser Permanente Southern California hospitals doubled immediately after the March 2020 stay-at-home order. This increase in the rate of child maltreatment visits was highest among younger children, girls, and children who were Black or Hispanic. Over the following year and a half, ...Read more...COVID-19 boosters shown to be effective for adolescents
August 3, 2022Adolescents who received 3 doses of the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID vaccine were better protected against infection with SARS-CoV-2 — the virus that causes COVID-19 — than adolescents who received only 2 doses, according to a study of more than 3,000 Kaiser Permanente Southern California members ages 12 to 17 and published on August 3, 2022, in ...Read more...5 questions for … Dr. Jennifer Ku
July 28, 2022An infectious disease epidemiologist, Jennifer Ku, PhD, MPH, is in the first year of her post-doctoral program at the Department of Research & Evaluation. Her research includes vaccine safety and effectiveness projects on shingles and COVID-19 vaccines. Dr. Ku is also involved in other infectious diseases studies on influenza, SARS-CoV-2, and other respiratory viruses. Please tell ...Read more...Public policy can improve pandemic masking adherence
July 25, 2022A year-long study of mask adherence and social distancing among more than 100,000 people in 126 U.S. cities found people were 3 times more likely to wear masks correctly in places where a mask mandate was in place. The study was published recently in the American Journal of Infection Control. “City, county, and state leaders can ...Read more...5 questions for … Dr. Rulin Hechter
June 30, 2022Rulin Hechter, MD, PhD, is an infectious disease epidemiologist in the Department of Research & Evaluation who focuses on the prevention and treatment of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. She received her medical training from Suzhou Medical College and her master’s degree in epidemiology and biostatistics from Fudan University, both in China. She received ...Read more...