News

People who were vaccinated for shingles had a lower risk of COVID-19 diagnosis or hospitalization, according to a Kaiser Permanente study of people ages 50 and older. The research was published December 28 in The Journal of Infectious Diseases. “Our findings add to a compelling body of evidence that some vaccines may provide some protection against ...

John K. Nguyen, MD, an obstetrician and gynecologist at Kaiser Permanente Downey Medical Center, has been named the 2021 Southern California Permanente Medical Group Physician Researcher of the Year. The award has been given each year since 2007 to recognize a physician or surgeon for his or her outstanding contributions to the research community. Dr. Nguyen is the ...

Kaiser Permanente research published on December 15, 2021 in The British Medical Journal showed 2 doses of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine were highly effective against all SARS-CoV-2 variants. However, vaccine effectiveness against the delta variant moderately declined with increasing time after vaccination. “We conducted a previous study that showed the high effectiveness of the 2-dose Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, ...

Matthew Mefford, PhD, is a cardiovascular disease epidemiologist and research scientist in the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation. His research interests include heart failure, cardiovascular disease disparities, risk factors and outcomes, and the intersection of chronic disease and infectious diseases. He also maintains a broad focus on applying epidemiologic methods to ...

A study of Kaiser Permanente Southern California members shows that rates of hospital admissions or emergency department visits for heart attacks dropped significantly after stay-at-home orders for the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020. These findings, published in The Permanente Journal on December 13, 2021, suggest that people may have delayed seeking care out of concern ...

Kaiser Permanente Southern California has launched a new Virtual Research Office portal to make it easier for physicians to conduct clinical research that can have a direct impact on the quality of care provided to Kaiser Permanente members. The new portal, developed and housed by the Department of Research & Evaluation, provides a single point of ...

People with HIV are at higher risk of developing heart failure than people without HIV, a new study found. The research, published Dec. 13, 2021, in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, is one of the largest studies to investigate heart failure risk in people with HIV and how that risk varies by age, gender, race, and ethnicity. “Cardiovascular ...

Kaiser Permanente research in Southern California published November 25, 2021, in The Lancet Regional Health – Americas confirmed high Moderna COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness up to 5 months after the second dose. Effectiveness was 87% against COVID-19 infection, 96% against COVID-19 hospitalization, and 98% against COVID-19 death. “This research provides reassuring evidence of the high effectiveness of ...