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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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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, ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Many women who survive breast cancer continue to cope with other issues such as insomnia, depression, and fatigue. Researchers at Kaiser Permanente Southern California and the UCLA Geffen School of Medicine sought to determine whether insomnia, which affects about 40% of breast cancer survivors, was a factor that led to depression and fatigue. The study was ...