Heart disease is the leading cause of death for Americans. Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI) scientists are working to understand how to reduce our risk of heart attacks, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases throughout life.
Addressing risk factors, improving diagnosis, and exploring how medications, genes, and everyday life affect our cardiovascular health at different ages and stages are central to this work — as is translating research findings into practical, personalized care.
“We’ve found that helping patients and health care teams work together on personalized care plans is the best path to lifelong heart health,” says Beverly Green, MD, MPH, whose recent work has focused on improving the diagnosis of high blood pressure.
Additional focus areas for KPWHRI scientists include exploring the impact of cardiovascular diseases on other health conditions — and vice versa. Recently, this has led researchers Sascha Dublin, MD, PhD, and Laura B. Harrington, PhD, MPH, to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular health.
Below are other research highlights from KPWHRI’s cardiovascular health scientists (please visit their bios to learn more):
Tin A, Marten J, Halperin Kuhns VL, Li Y, Wuttke M, Kirsten H, Sieber KB, Qiu C, Gorski M, Yu Z, Giri A, Sveinbjornsson G, Li M, Chu AY, Hoppmann A, O'Connor LJ, Prins B, Nutile T, Noce D, Akiyama M, Cocca M, Ghasemi S, van der Most PJ, Horn K, Xu Y, Fuchsberger C, Sedaghat S, Afaq S, Amin N, Ärnlöv J, Bakker SJL, Bansal N, Baptista D, Bergmann S, Biggs ML, Biino G, Boerwinkle E, Bottinger EP, Boutin TS, Brumat M, Burkhardt R, Campana E, Campbell A, Campbell H, Carroll RJ, Catamo E, Chambers JC, Ciullo M, Concas MP, Coresh J, Corre T, Cusi D, Felicita SC, de Borst MH, De Grandi A, de Mutsert R, de Vries APJ, Delgado G, Demirkan A, Devuyst O, Dittrich K, Eckardt KU, Ehret G, Endlich K, Evans MK, Gansevoort RT, Gasparini P, Giedraitis V, Gieger C, Girotto G, Gögele M, Gordon SD, Gudbjartsson DF, Gudnason V, German Chronic Kidney Disease Study, Haller T, Hamet P, Harris TB, Hayward C, Hicks AA, Hofer E, Holm H, Huang W, Hutri-Kähönen N, Hwang SJ, Ikram MA, Lewis RM, Ingelsson E, Jakobsdottir J, Jonsdottir I, Jonsson H, Joshi PK, Josyula NS, Jung B, Kähönen M, Kamatani Y, Kanai M, Kerr SM, Kiess W, Kleber ME, Koenig W, Kooner JS, Körner A, Kovacs P, Krämer BK, Kronenberg F, Kubo M, Kühnel B, La Bianca M, Lange LA, Lehne B, Lehtimäki T, Lifelines Cohort Study, Liu J, Loeffler M, Loos RJF, Lyytikäinen LP, Magi R, Mahajan A, Martin NG, März W, Mascalzoni D, Matsuda K, Meisinger C, Meitinger T, Metspalu A, Milaneschi Y, V. A. Million Veteran Program, O'Donnell CJ, Wilson OD, Gaziano JM, Mishra PP, Mohlke KL, Mononen N, Montgomery GW, Mook-Kanamori DO, Müller-Nurasyid M, Nadkarni GN, Nalls MA, Nauck M, Nikus K, Ning B, Nolte IM, Noordam R, O'Connell JR, Olafsson I, Padmanabhan S, Penninx BWJH, Perls T, Peters A, Pirastu M, Pirastu N, Pistis G, Polasek O, Ponte B, Porteous DJ, Poulain T, Preuss MH, Rabelink TJ, Raffield LM, Raitakari OT, Rettig R, Rheinberger M, Rice KM, Rizzi F, Robino A, Rudan I, Krajcoviechova A, Cifkova R, Rueedi R, Ruggiero D, Ryan KA, Saba Y, Salvi E, Schmidt H, Schmidt R, Shaffer CM, Smith AV, Smith BH, Spracklen CN, Strauch K, Stumvoll M, Sulem P, Tajuddin SM, Teren A, Thiery J, Thio CHL, Thorsteinsdottir U, Toniolo D, Tönjes A, Tremblay J, Uitterlinden AG, Vaccargiu S, van der Harst P, van Duijn CM, Verweij N, Völker U, Vollenweider P, Waeber G, Waldenberger M, Whitfield JB, Wild SH, Wilson JF, Yang Q, Zhang W, Zonderman AB, Bochud M, Wilson JG, Pendergrass SA, Ho K, Parsa A, Pramstaller PP, Psaty BM, Böger CA, Snieder H, Butterworth AS, Okada Y, Edwards TL, Stefansson K, Susztak K, Scholz M, Heid IM, Hung AM, Teumer A, Pattaro C, Woodward OM, Vitart V, Köttgen A Target genes, variants, tissues and transcriptional pathways influencing human serum urate levels 2019 Oct;51(10):1459-1474. doi: 10.1038/s41588-019-0504-x. Epub 2019-10-02. PubMed
Psaty BM, Fleming TR Cardiovascular safety trials of antidiabetic therapies to treat type 2 diabetes: perhaps asking the wrong question? 2019 Sep 24;32(10):927-929. doi: 10.1093/ajh/hpz093. PubMed
Teumer A, Li Y, Ghasemi S, Prins BP, Wuttke M, Hermle T, Giri A, Sieber KB, Qiu C, Kirsten H, Tin A, Chu AY, Bansal N, Feitosa MF, Wang L, Chai JF, Cocca M, Fuchsberger C, Gorski M, Hoppmann A, Horn K, Li M, Marten J, Noce D, Nutile T, Sedaghat S, Sveinbjornsson G, Tayo BO, van der Most PJ, Xu Y, Yu Z, Gerstner L, Ärnlöv J, Bakker SJL, Baptista D, Biggs ML, Boerwinkle E, Brenner H, Burkhardt R, Carroll RJ, Chee ML, Chee ML, Chen M, Cheng CY, Cook JP, Coresh J, Corre T, Danesh J, de Borst MH, De Grandi A, de Mutsert R, de Vries APJ, Degenhardt F, Dittrich K, Divers J, Eckardt KU, Ehret G, Endlich K, Felix JF, Franco OH, Franke A, Freedman BI, Freitag-Wolf S, Gansevoort RT, Giedraitis V, Gögele M, Grundner-Culemann F, Gudbjartsson DF, Gudnason V, Hamet P, Harris TB, Hicks AA, Holm H, Foo VHX, Hwang SJ, Ikram MA, Ingelsson E, Jaddoe VWV, Jakobsdottir J, Josyula NS, Jung B, Kähönen M, Khor CC, Kiess W, Koenig W, Körner A, Kovacs P, Kramer H, Krämer BK, Kronenberg F, Lange LA, Langefeld CD, Lee JJ, Lehtimäki T, Lieb W, Lim SC, Lind L, Lindgren CM, Liu J, Loeffler M, Lyytikäinen LP, Mahajan A, Maranville JC, Mascalzoni D, McMullen B, Meisinger C, Meitinger T, Miliku K, Mook-Kanamori DO, Müller-Nurasyid M, Mychaleckyj JC, Nauck M, Nikus K, Ning B, Noordam R, Connell JO, Olafsson I, Palmer ND, Peters A, Podgornaia AI, Ponte B, Poulain T, Pramstaller PP, Rabelink TJ, Raffield LM, Reilly DF, Rettig R, Rheinberger M, Rice KM, Rivadeneira F, Runz H, Ryan KA, Sabanayagam C, Saum KU, Schöttker B, Shaffer CM, Shi Y, Smith AV, Strauch K, Stumvoll M, Sun BB, Szymczak S, Tai ES, Tan NYQ, Taylor KD, Teren A, Tham YC, Thiery J, Thio CHL, Thomsen H, Thorsteinsdottir U, Tönjes A, Tremblay J, Uitterlinden AG, van der Harst P, Verweij N, Vogelezang S, Völker U, Waldenberger M, Wang C, Wilson OD, Wong C, Wong TY, Yang Q, Yasuda M, Akilesh S, Bochud M, Böger CA, Devuyst O, Edwards TL, Ho K, Morris AP, Parsa A, Pendergrass SA, Psaty BM, Rotter JI, Stefansson K, Wilson JG, Susztak K, Snieder H, Heid IM, Scholz M, Butterworth AS, Hung AM, Pattaro C, Köttgen A Genome-wide association meta-analyses and fine-mapping elucidate pathways influencing albuminuria 2019 Sep 11;10(1):4130. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-11576-0. Epub 2019-09-11. PubMed
Miller LM, Peralta CA, Fitzpatrick AL, Wu C, Psaty BM, Newman AB, Odden MC The role of functional status on the relationship between blood pressure and cognitive decline: the Cardiovascular Health Study 2019 Sep;37(9):1790-1796. doi: 10.1097/HJH.0000000000002102. PubMed
Evangelou E, Gao H, Chu C, Ntritsos G, Blakeley P, Butts AR, Pazoki R, Suzuki H, Koskeridis F, Yiorkas AM, Karaman I, Elliott J, Luo Q, Aeschbacher S, Bartz TM, Baumeister SE, Braund PS, Brown MR, Brody JA, Clarke TK, Dimou N, Faul JD, Homuth G, Jackson AU, Kentistou KA, Joshi PK, Lemaitre RN, Lind PA, Lyytikäinen LP, Mangino M, Milaneschi Y, Nelson CP, Nolte IM, Perälä MM, Polasek O, Porteous D, Ratliff SM, Smith JA, Stan?áková A, Teumer A, Tuominen S, Thériault S, Vangipurapu J, Whitfield JB, Wood A, Yao J, Yu B, Zhao W, Arking DE, Auvinen J, Liu C, Männikkö M, Risch L, Rotter JI, Snieder H, Veijola J, Blakemore AI, Boehnke M, Campbell H, Conen D, Eriksson JG, Grabe HJ, Guo X, van der Harst P, Hartman CA, Hayward C, Heath AC, Jarvelin MR, Kähönen M, Kardia SLR, Kühne M, Kuusisto J, Laakso M, Lahti J, Lehtimäki T, McIntosh AM, Mohlke KL, Morrison AC, Martin NG, Oldehinkel AJ, Penninx BWJH, Psaty BM, Raitakari OT, Rudan I, Samani NJ, Scott LJ, Spector TD, Verweij N, Weir DR, Wilson JF, Levy D, Tzoulaki I, Bell JD, Matthews PM, Rothenfluh A, Desrivières S, Schumann G, Elliott P New alcohol-related genes suggest shared genetic mechanisms with neuropsychiatric disorders 2019 Sep;3(9):950-961. doi: 10.1038/s41562-019-0653-z. Epub 2019-07-29. PubMed
Meagan C. Brown, PhD, MPHAssistant Investigator |
Sascha Dublin, MD, PhDSenior Investigator |
Nicole M. Gatto, PhD, MPHPrincipal Collaborative Scientist |
Beverly B. Green, MD, MPHSenior Investigator |
Laura Harrington, PhD, MPHAssociate Investigator |
James Floyd, MD, MS
Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology
University of Washington
Susan Heckbert, MD, PhD
University of Washington (UW) Department of Epidemiology; UW Cardiovascular Health Research Unit
Nicholas L. Smith, PhD, MPH
UW Professor, Epidemiology, Cardiovascular Health Research Unit
Director, Seattle Epidemiology and Information Resource Center, VA Puget Sound Health Care System