Cardiovascular Health
“One in four deaths in the United States is attributed to heart disease. Our researchers study how behavior, environment, and genetics affect heart health and how screening and treatment can reduce risk.”
Research overview
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):
- In 2016 Dr. Green, a senior investigator, launched the BP-CHECK study, which aims to find the easiest, most accurate way to diagnose high blood pressure. With a $2.8 million award from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), the study compares blood pressure readings taken in clinic, at home, and at validated blood pressure kiosks to the 24-hour blood pressure test that is currently considered the gold standard for diagnosing hypertension.
- Dr. Dublin, a senior investigator, explores many different facets of cardiovascular disease in her work, including risk factors for atrial fibrillation, the effect of medications on cardiovascular disease, and the relationship between cardiovascular disease and other conditions, such as dementia. Managing cardiovascular risk factors in pregnancy — such as high blood pressure and diabetes — is a particular interest.
- Dr. Harrington, an assistant investigator, is a cardiovascular epidemiologist whose research aims to improve understanding of modifiable cardiovascular risk factors, particularly among older women. Currently, she is leading a study exploring the relationship between physical activity, sedentary behavior, and the risk of venous thromboembolism (blood clots that form predominantly in the veins of the legs or lungs). In addition to this work, Dr. Harrington conducts research in the areas of recurrent cardiovascular event risk, cardiovascular health in relation to cognitive decline and dementia risk in later life, and pharmacologic exposures in relation to cardiovascular event risk, with a particular focus on risk factors for venous thromboembolism.
- Senior Investigator Michael L. Parchman, MD, MPH, focuses on implementing evidence-based cardiovascular disease care into primary care settings. He led the 4-year Healthy Hearts Northwest trial, an EvidenceNOW initiative that helped smaller primary care practices in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho adopt evidence-based approaches to improving cardiovascular care outcomes. The trial continues to produce findings of importance.
- The work of Ellen O'Meara, PhD, a senior research associate, centers on the epidemiology of common and important health conditions in the United States, including cardiovascular disease. Her collaborative research has included studies exploring the risk factors and outcomes of heart disease and stroke. Recent work includes research on quality improvement aimed at controlling hypertension at small primary care practices.
Recent publications on Cardiovascular Health
Kim J, Kraft P, Hagan KA, Harrington LB, Lindstroem S, Kabrhel C. Interaction of a genetic risk score with physical activity, physical inactivity, and body mass index in relation to venous thromboembolism risk. Genet Epidemiol. 2018 Jun;42(4):354-365. doi: 10.1002/gepi.22118. Epub 2018 Mar 8. PubMed
Hammond CA, Blades NJ, Chaudhry SI, Dodson JA, Longstreth WT Jr, Heckbert SR, Psaty BM, Arnold AM, Dublin S, Sitlani CM, Gardin JM, Thielke SM, Nanna MG, Gottesman RF, Newman AB, Thacker EL. Long-term cognitive decline after newly diagnosed heart failure: longitudinal analysis in the CHS (Cardiovascular Health Study). Circ Heart Fail. 2018;11(3):e004476. doi: 10.1161/CIRCHEARTFAILURE.117.004476. PubMed
Kaiser P, Peralta CA, Kronmal R, Shlipak MG, Psaty BM, Odden MC. Racial/ethnic heterogeneity in associations of blood pressure and incident cardiovascular disease by functional status in a prospective cohort: the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. BMJ Open. 2018 Feb 23;8(2):e017746. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2017-017746. PubMed
Harrington LB, Blondon M, Cushman M, Kaunitz AM, Allison MA, Wang L, Sullivan S, Woods NF, LaCroix AZ, Heckbert SR, McKnight B, Rossouw J, Smith NL. Vasomotor symptoms and the risk of incident venous thrombosis in postmenopausal women. J Thromb Haemost. 2018 May;16(5):886-892. doi: 10.1111/jth.13993. Epub 2018 Apr 2. PubMed
Sung YJ, Winkler TW, de Las Fuentes L, Bentley AR, Brown MR, Kraja AT, Schwander K, Ntalla I, Guo X, Franceschini N, Lu Y, Cheng CY, Sim X, Vojinovic D, Marten J, Musani SK, Li C, Feitosa MF, Kilpeläinen TO, Richard MA, Noordam R, Aslibekyan S, Aschard H, Bartz TM, Dorajoo R, Liu Y, Manning AK, Rankinen T, Smith AV, Tajuddin SM, Tayo BO, Warren HR, Zhao W, Zhou Y, Matoba N, Sofer T, Alver M, Amini M, Boissel M, Chai JF, Chen X, Divers J, Gandin I, Gao C, Giulianini F, Goel A, Harris SE, Hartwig FP, Horimoto ARVR, Hsu FC, Jackson AU, Kähönen M, Kasturiratne A, Kühnel B, Leander K, Lee WJ, Lin KH, 'an Luan J, McKenzie CA, Meian H, Nelson CP, Rauramaa R, Schupf N, Scott RA, Sheu WHH, Stancáková A, Takeuchi F, van der Most PJ, Varga TV, Wang H, Wang Y, Ware EB, Weiss S, Wen W, Yanek LR, Zhang W, Zhao JH, Afaq S, Alfred T, Amin N, Arking D, Aung T, Barr RG, Bielak LF, Boerwinkle E, Bottinger EP, Braund PS, Brody JA, Broeckel U, Cabrera CP, Cade B, Caizheng Y, Campbell A, Canouil M, Chakravarti A; CHARGE Neurology Working Group, Chauhan G, Christensen K, Cocca M; COGENT-Kidney Consortium, Collins FS, Connell JM, de Mutsert R, de Silva HJ, Debette S, Dörr M, Duan Q, Eaton CB, Ehret G, Evangelou E, Faul JD, Fisher VA, Forouhi NG, Franco OH, Friedlander Y, Gao H; GIANT Consortium, Gigante B, Graff M, Gu CC, Gu D, Gupta P, Hagenaars SP, Harris TB, He J, Heikkinen S, Heng CK, Hirata M, Hofman A, Howard BV, Hunt S, Irvin MR, Jia Y, Joehanes R, Justice AE, Katsuya T, Kaufman J, Kerrison ND, Khor CC, Koh WP, Koistinen HA, Komulainen P, Kooperberg C, Krieger JE, Kubo M, Kuusisto J, Langefeld CD, Langenberg C, Launer LJ, Lehne B, Lewis CE, Li Y; Lifelines Cohort Study, Lim SH, Lin S, Liu CT, Liu J, Liu J, Liu K, Liu Y, Loh M, Lohman KK, Long J, Louie T, Mägi R, Mahajan A, Meitinger T, Metspalu A, Milani L, Momozawa Y, Morris AP, Mosley TH Jr., Munson P, Murray AD, Nalls MA, Nasri U, Norris JM, North K, Ogunniyi A, Padmanabhan S, Palmas WR, Palmer ND, Pankow JS, Pedersen NL, Peters A, Peyser PA, Polasek O, Raitakari OT, Renström F, Rice TK, Ridker PM, Robino A, Robinson JG, Rose LM, Rudan I, Sabanayagam C, Salako BL, Sandow K, Schmidt CO, Schreiner PJ, Scott WR, Seshadri S, Sever P, Sitlani CM, Smith JA, Snieder H, Starr JM, Strauch K, Tang H, Taylor KD, Teo YY, Tham YC, Uitterlinden AG, Waldenberger M, Wang L, Wang YX, Wei WB, Williams C, Wilson G, Wojczynski MK, Yao J, Yuan JM, Zonderman AB, Becker DM, Boehnke M, Bowden DW, Chambers JC, Chen YI, de Faire U, Deary IJ, Esko T, Farrall M, Forrester T, Franks PW, Freedman BI, Froguel P, Gasparini P, Gieger C, Horta BL, Hung YJ, Jonas JB, Kato N, Kooner JS, Laakso M, Lehtimäki T, Liang KW, Magnusson PKE, Newman AB, Oldehinkel AJ, Pereira AC, Redline S, Rettig R, Samani NJ, Scott J, Shu XO, van der Harst P, Wagenknecht LE, Wareham NJ, Watkins H, Weir DR, Wickremasinghe AR, Wu T, Zheng W, Kamatani Y, Laurie CC, Bouchard C, Cooper RS, Evans MK, Gudnason V, Kardia SLR, Kritchevsky SB, Levy D, O'Connell JR, Psaty BM, van Dam RM, Sims M, Arnett DK, Mook-Kanamori DO, Kelly TN, Fox ER, Hayward C, Fornage M, Rotimi CN, Province MA, van Duijn CM, Tai ES, Wong TY, Loos RJF, Reiner AP, Rotter JI, Zhu X, Bierut LJ, Gauderman WJ, Caulfield MJ, Elliott P, Rice K, Munroe PB, Morrison AC, Cupples LA, Rao DC, Chasman DI. A large-scale multi-ancestry genome-wide study accounting for smoking behavior identifies multiple significant loci for blood pressure. Am J Hum Genet. 2018 Feb 13. pii: S0002-9297(18)30017-X. doi: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2018.01.015. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Researchers in Cardiovascular Health
 Sascha Dublin, MD, PhDSenior Investigator |
 Beverly B. Green, MD, MPHSenior Investigator |
 Laura Harrington, PhD, MPHAssistant Investigator |
 Ellen O'Meara, PhDPrincipal Collaborative Scientist |
 Nicole M. Gatto, PhD, MPHPrincipal Collaborative Scientist |
 Meagan C. Brown, PhD, MPHAssistant Investigator |
Affiliate researchers
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
Research
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Live healthy
Measuring blood pressure at home: It's easy and accurate
Bev Green, doctor and scientist, has tips for monitoring your blood pressure without leaving your house.
Healthy findings blog
New grant boosts research on cardiovascular disease
Epidemiologist Laura B. Harrington, PhD, MPH, speaks about working in cardiovascular and aging research.
Research to practice
Home blood pressure monitoring: From study to clinic
Beverly Green, MD, and Kaiser Permanente work to improve hypertension care.
Research
Is blood pressure reading better at home or clinic?
Home blood pressure monitoring shown to be an excellent alternative for making new diagnoses of hypertension.
New findings
There’s no place like home … to track blood pressure
Research led by KPWHRI’s Beverly Green, MD, MPH, finds that patients prefer at-home monitoring of blood pressure.
Research
CVD risk calculation: Can smaller clinics break through?
KPWHRI researchers uncover obstacles faced by smaller practices when adding CVD risk calculators into primary care.
KPWHRI in the media
Understanding high blood pressure
Hypertension headache: Medical myth or true health concern?
AARP, June 3, 2024
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