Vaccines save lives by protecting people against infectious diseases — polio, influenza, and pneumonia to name a few. Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI) is working to protect communities through research to continually improve the safety and effectiveness of vaccines for infectious diseases of public health importance.
Central to this work is testing new vaccines against emerging diseases — such as COVID-19. In March 2020, KPWHRI gave the world’s first-ever injection of an investigational vaccine for COVID-19 in a phase 1 clinical trial led by Senior Investigator Lisa A. Jackson, MD, MPH. We continue to be at the forefront of efforts to understand and combat COVID-19. To learn more, see COVID-19 research at KPWHRI.
Successes over 3 decades of KPWHRI vaccine research include:
Our current research projects on vaccines and infectious diseases include:
Harrington LB, Powers JD, Bayliss EA, Fortmann SP, Shortreed SM, Walker RL, Floyd JS, Kuntz J, Fuller S, Albertson-Junkans L, Lee MH, Temposky LA, Dublin S. Current use of estrogen-containing oral contraceptives or hormone therapy and risk of COVID-19 infection and hospitalization: A population-based cohort study. Am J Epidemiol. 2024 May 16:kwae066. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwae066. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Bi Q, Dickerman BA, Nguyen HQ, Martin ET, Gaglani M, Wernli KJ, Balasubramani GK, Flannery B, Lipsitch M, Cobey S. Reduced effectiveness of repeat influenza vaccination: distinguishing among within-season waning, recent clinical infection, and subclinical infection. J Infect Dis. 2024 Apr 30:jiae220. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiae220. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Daley MF, Reifler LM, Shoup JA, Glanz JM, Lewin BJ, Klein NP, Kharbanda EO, McLean HQ, Hambidge SJ, Nelson JC, Naleway AL, Weintraub ES, McNeil MM, Razzaghi H, Singleton JA. Influenza vaccination accuracy among adults: Self-report compared with electronic health record data. Vaccine. 2024;42(11):2740-2746. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2024.03.052. Epub 2024 Mar 25. PubMed
Tchesnokova V, Larson L, Basova I, Sledneva Y, Choudhury D, Solyanik T, Heng J, Bonilla TC, Pasumansky I, Bowers V, Pham S, Madziwa LT, Holden E, Tartof SY, Ralston JD, Sokurenko EV. Gut resident Escherichia coli profile predicts the eighteen-month probability and antimicrobial susceptibility of urinary tract infections. medRxiv [Preprint]. 2024:2024.04.05.24305377. doi: 10.1101/2024.04.05.24305377. PubMed
Williams JTB, Kurlandsky K, Breslin K, Durfee MJ, Stein A, Hurley L, Shoup JA, Reifler LM, Daley MF, Lewin BJ, Goddard K, Henninger ML, Nelson JC, Vazquez-Benitez G, Hanson KE, Fuller CC, Weintraub ES, McNeil MM, Hambidge SJ. Attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines among pregnant and recently pregnant individuals. JAMA Netw Open. 2024;7(4):e245479. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.5479. PubMed
![]() Lisa A. Jackson, MD, MPHSenior Investigator |
![]() Jennifer C. Nelson, PhDDirector, Biostatistics; Senior Investigator |
![]() Andrea J. Cook, PhDSenior Biostatistics Investigator |
![]() Sascha Dublin, MD, PhDSenior Investigator |
![]() Onchee Yu, MSPrincipal Collaborative Biostatistician |
![]() Robert D. Wellman, MSPrincipal Collaborative Biostatistician |
![]() Clarissa Hsu, PhDAssociate Investigator |
![]() Brian D. Williamson, PhDAssistant Biostatistics Investigator |
![]() Noorie Hyun, PhDAssociate Biostatistics Investigator |
![]() Pamela A. Shaw, PhD, MSSenior Biostatistics Investigator |
![]() Annie Piccorelli, PhDSenior Collaborative Biostatistician |
Doug Opel, MD, MPH
University of Washington (UW) Department of Bioethics and Humanities; UW Department of Pediatrics; UW Medical Center
John Dunn, MD, MPH
Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Washington
Elizabeth Lin, MD, MPH
Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Washington Family Practice;
Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute