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After the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued opioid prescribing guidelines in 2016, the national opioid dispensing rates steadily declined. However, while reducing opioid prescriptions is critically important, abruptly stopping opioids for pain has been shown to possibly raise the risk of overdose for patients. Against this backdrop, Kaiser Permanente was among the first health ...

Talar Habeshian, PhD, MPH, was appointed as a postdoctoral research fellow in the Division of Epidemiologic Research at the Department of Research & Evaluation in August. She will focus on cancer research initiatives. Prior to her postdoctoral appointment, Dr. Habeshian worked as a research associate in the Division of Health Services Research & Implementation Science for ...

New Kaiser Permanente research shows that the COVID-19 vaccine does not increase the risk of developing tinnitus, which is a ringing in the ears. “Early on in the COVID-19 pandemic, some people complained about hearing some sound after being vaccinated, but it wasn’t actually an external sound, it was tinnitus, which is the perception of sound ...

A new Kaiser Permanente study showed that fewer breast cancer survivors received recommended annual breast cancer imaging in the time after the COVID-19 pandemic period compared to before the pandemic. The study was published in JAMA Oncology in July 2025. Little has been known previously about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on post-treatment surveillance for ...

A diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes typically means a future of blood sugar monitoring and glucose-lowering medications. But interest is growing in identifying which people with diabetes might be able to stop taking their medications and control their disease with diet and exercise alone. A new Kaiser Permanente study, published in Diabetes Care, sheds light ...

A behavioral and public health scientist, Taynara Formagini, PhD, MSc, is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Research & Evaluation. Her work focuses on preventing cardiovascular and chronic diseases among racial and ethnic minorities and socioeconomically disadvantaged populations through a combination of intervention research and epidemiology. What inspired you to pursue research? I’m a first-generation ...

Kaiser Permanente research found that breast cancer survivors have a higher risk of developing other cancers if they have other preexisting health conditions, such as high blood pressure and diabetes. “Preexisting health conditions are common in people diagnosed with cancer and what we’ve learned with this study is that comorbidities — experiencing multiple illnesses or disorders ...

Maheen Humayun, PhD, MPH, is an infectious disease epidemiologist and postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Research & Evaluation. Prior to joining Kaiser Permanente, Dr. Humayun worked as an HIV Cluster Detection and Response Fellow at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In that role, she analyzed national HIV surveillance data to detect rapid ...