Greg Simon, MD, MPH, is a psychiatrist and senior investigator well-known for his extensive research on practical approaches to improving mental health care. He seeks to develop and evaluate effective real-world strategies that support better mental health and wellness. Current areas of emphasis include identifying and assessing suicide risk, improving care for treatment-resistant depression, and early intervention for mental health conditions in children and youth.
Dr. Simon leads the Mental Health Research Network (MHRN), a consortium of research centers affiliated with 13 large health systems across the United States, including Kaiser Permanente Washington. This network, funded through a cooperative agreement with the National Institute of Mental Health, aims to improve the efficiency, relevance, and impact of mental health clinical and health services research. Now in its second five-year funding cycle, the MHRN is exploring a broad range of issues—including suicide prevention, improving heart health in people with serious mental illness, using electronic medical records to improve follow-up care for depression, and understanding the causes of racial and ethnic disparities in mental health care.
Dr. Simon and his MHRN colleagues are conducting several large studies across MHRN health systems, including:
Dr. Simon is an editor for the Cochrane Collaboration’s depression and anxiety review group, sits on the editorial board for General Hospital Psychiatry, and serves on the advisory board for the National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Program (formerly Precision Medicine Initiative). Earlier, he served on the editorial boards of Psychiatric Services and Psychological Medicine and chaired the scientific advisory board for the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance. Dr. Simon has practiced adult psychiatry in Kaiser Permanente Washington's Mental Health and Wellness Service since 1990 and is a research professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Washington.
Depression; bipolar disorder; suicide prevention; self-management; treatment adherence
Comorbidity of mental health conditions with obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and substance use disorders.
Sparks PJ, Ayars GH, Simon GE, Katon WJ, Altman LC, Johnson RL. Depression and panic attacks related to phenol-formaldehyde composite material exposure in an aerospace manufacturing plant. Allergy Proc. 1991;12(6):389-93. PubMed
Katon WJ, Buchwald DS, Simon GE, Russo JE, Mease PJ. Psychiatric illness in patients with chronic fatigue and those with rheumatoid arthritis. J Gen Intern Med. 1991;6(4):277-85. PubMed
Simon GE, Katon WJ, Sparks PJ. Allergic to life: psychological factors in environmental illness. Am J Psychiatry. 1990;147(7):901-6. PubMed
Sparks PJ, Simon GE, Katon WJ, Altman LC, Ayars GH, Johnson RL. An outbreak of illness among aerospace workers. West J Med. 1990;153(1):28-33. PubMed
Simon GE. Physical symptoms of psychiatric disorder (abstract). Psychosom Med. 1990;52:224.
Simon GE. Depression in medical patients. J Gen Intern Med. 1988;3(2):208. PubMed
Wagner, EH. Should HMOs do research? HMO Pract. 1987;4(2):177-8. PubMed
Simon GE, Richesson RL, Hernandez AF. Disseminating trial results: we can have both faster and better. Healthc (Amst). 2020 Dec;8(4):100474. doi: 10.1016/j.hjdsi.2020.100474. Epub 2020 Sep 24. PubMed
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KPWHRI researchers are contributing to better mental health care for people nationwide.