Robert Wellman, MS
“Being part of Kaiser Permanente research teams gives me a chance to develop cutting-edge biostatistical methods while contributing to health care research with a national impact.”
Robert Wellman, MS
Principal Collaborative Biostatistician, Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute
Robert.D.Wellman@kp.org
206-287-2557
Biography
A graduate of the University of Washington (UW) biostatistics program, Robert Wellman, MS, joined the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI) Biostatistics Unit in 2009. His work spans a diverse collection of topics including mental health, pharmacoepidemiology, postmarketing drug safety surveillance, obesity, diagnostic test accuracy, back pain, and breast cancer. Prior to this, he spent 5 years in the Biostatistics Core at the UW Center for AIDS Research.
Research interests and experience
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Biostatistics
Causal inference; longitudinal data; diagnostic and screening test accuracy; clinical trials; survival analysis: rare disease outcomes; nonparametrics; missing data; electronic data; distributed data; statistical computing
Vaccines & Infectious Diseases
Biostatistics; HIV/AIDS; vaccine safety
Complementary & Integrative Health
Biostatistics; clinical trials; back pain
Obesity
Biostatistics; bariatric surgery
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Cancer
Biostatistics; breast cancer; effects of chemotherapy; accuracy of automated data; screening test accuracy; advanced imaging
Medication Use & Patient Safety
Biostatistics; pharmacoepidemiology; postmarketing drug safety surveillance; big data; electronic health record and claims data
Mental Health
Biostatistics; suicide risk prediction, machine learning
Recent publications
Toh S, Wellman R, Coley RY, Horgan C, Sturtevant J, Moyneur E, Janning C, Pardee R, Coleman KJ, Arterburn D, McTigue K, Anau J, Cook AJ. Combining distributed regression and propensity scores: a doubly privacy-protecting analytic method for multicenter research. Clin Epidemiol. 2018 Nov 27;10:1773-1786. doi: 10.2147/CLEP.S178163. eCollection 2018. PubMed
Hill DA, Haas JS, Wellman R, Hubbard RA, Lee CI, Alford-Teaster J, Wernli KJ, Henderson LM, Stout NK, Tosteson ANA, Kerlikowske K, Onega T. Utilization of breast cancer screening with magnetic resonance imaging in community practice. J Gen Intern Med. 2018 Mar;33(3):275-283. doi: 10.1007/s11606-017-4224-6. Epub 2017 Dec 6. PubMed
Toh S, Rasmussen-Torvik LJ, Harmata EE, Pardee R, Saizan R, Malanga E, Sturtevant JL, Horgan CE, Anau J, Janning CD, Wellman RD, Coley RY, Cook AJ, Courcoulas AP, Coleman KJ, Williams NA, McTigue KM, Arterburn D, McClay J for the PCORnet Bariatric Study Collaborative. The national Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network (PCORnet) bariatric study cohort: rationale, methods, and baseline characteristics. JMIR Res Protoc. 2017 Dec 5;6(12):e222. doi: 10.2196/resprot.8323. PubMed
Floyd JS, Wellman R, Fuller S, Bansal N, Psaty BM, de Boer IH, Scholes D. Use of electronic health data to estimate heart failure events in a population-based cohort with CKD. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2016 Nov 7;11(11):1954-1961. Epub 2016 Aug 9. PubMed
Haas JS, Hill DA, Wellman RD, Hubbard RA, Lee CI, Wernli KJ, Stout NK, Tosteson AN, Henderson LM, Alford-Teaster JA, Onega TL. Disparities in the use of screening magnetic resonance imaging of the breast in community practice by race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Cancer. 2016 Feb 15;122(4):611-7. doi: 10.1002/cncr.29805. Epub 2015 Dec 28. PubMed
New findings
Simpler models to identify suicide risk perform similarly to more complex ones
Models that are easier to explain, use could have better uptake in health care settings.
Research
Phone therapy for insomnia shown to improve sleep
A study among KP members with sleep problems and osteoarthritis shows promise for overcoming obstacles to treatment.
healthy findings blog
Best weight-loss surgery for diabetes and severe obesity?
Watch video on latest results from PCORnet Bariatric Study. (Spoiler alert: Bypass, not sleeve.)
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