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
Medina-Gomez C, Kemp JP, Trajanoska K, Luan J, Chesi A, Ahluwalia TS, Mook-Kanamori DO, Ham A, Hartwig FP, Evans DS, Joro R, Nedeljkovic I, Zheng HF, Zhu K, Atalay M, Liu CT, Nethander M, Broer L, Porleifsson G, Mullin BH, Handelman SK, Nalls MA, Jessen LE, Heppe DHM, Richards JB, Wang C, Chawes B, Schraut KE, Amin N, Wareham N, Karasik D, Van der Velde N, Ikram MA, Zemel BS, Zhou Y, Carlsson CJ, Liu Y, McGuigan FE, Boer CG, Bønnelykke K, Ralston SH, Robbins JA, Walsh JP, Zillikens MC, Langenberg C, Li-Gao R, Williams FMK, Harris TB, Akesson K, Jackson RD, Sigurdsson G, den Heijer M, van der Eerden BCJ, van de Peppel J, Spector TD, Pennell C, Horta BL, Felix JF, Zhao JH, Wilson SG, de Mutsert R, Bisgaard H, Styrkársdóttir U, Jaddoe VW, Orwoll E, Lakka TA, Scott R, Grant SFA, Lorentzon M, van Duijn CM, Wilson JF, Stefansson K, Psaty BM, Kiel DP, Ohlsson C, Ntzani E, van Wijnen AJ, Forgetta V, Ghanbari M, Logan JG, Williams GR, Bassett JHD, Croucher PI, Evangelou E, Uitterlinden AG, Ackert-Bicknell CL, Tobias JH, Evans DM, Rivadeneira F Life-Course Genome-wide Association Study Meta-analysis of Total Body BMD and Assessment of Age-Specific Effects 2018 Jan 4;102(1):88-102. doi: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2017.12.005. PubMed
Tomaselli G, Roach WH, Pina IL, Oster ME, Dietz WH, Horton K, Borden WB, Brownell K, Gibbons RJ, Otten JJ, Lee CS, Hill C, Heidenreich PA, Siscovick DS, Whitsel LP. Government continues to have an important role in promoting cardiovascular health. Am Heart J. 2018;198:160-165. doi: 10.1016/j.ahj.2017.11.002. Epub 2018 Jan 3. PubMed
Feitosa MF, Kraja AT, Chasman DI, Sung YJ, Winkler TW, Ntalla I, Guo X, Franceschini N, Cheng CY, Sim X, Vojinovic D, Marten J, Musani SK, Li C, Bentley AR, Brown MR, Schwander K, Richard MA, Noordam R, Aschard H, Bartz TM, Bielak LF, Dorajoo R, Fisher V, Hartwig FP, Horimoto ARVR, Lohman KK, Manning AK, Rankinen T, Smith AV, Tajuddin SM, Wojczynski MK, Alver M, Boissel M, Cai Q, Campbell A, Chai JF, Chen X, Divers J, Gao C, Goel A, Hagemeijer Y, Harris SE, He M, Hsu FC, Jackson AU, Kähönen M, Kasturiratne A, Komulainen P, Kühnel B, Laguzzi F, Luan J, Matoba N, Nolte IM, Padmanabhan S, Riaz M, Rueedi R, Robino A, Said MA, Scott RA, Sofer T, Stancáková A, Takeuchi F, Tayo BO, van der Most PJ, Varga TV, Vitart V, Wang Y, Ware EB, Warren HR, Weiss S, Wen W, Yanek LR, Zhang W, Zhao JH, Afaq S, Amin N, Amini M, Arking DE, Aung T, Boerwinkle E, Borecki I, Broeckel U, Brown M, Brumat M, Burke GL, Canouil M, Chakravarti A, Charumathi S, Ida Chen YD, Connell JM, Correa A, de Las Fuentes L, de Mutsert R, de Silva HJ, Deng X, Ding J, Duan Q, Eaton CB, Ehret G, Eppinga RN, Evangelou E, Faul JD, Felix SB, Forouhi NG, Forrester T, Franco OH, Friedlander Y, Gandin I, Gao H, Ghanbari M, Gigante B, Gu CC, Gu D, Hagenaars SP, Hallmans G, Harris TB, He J, Heikkinen S, Heng CK, Hirata M, Howard BV, Ikram MA, InterAct Consortium, John U, Katsuya T, Khor CC, Kilpeläinen TO, Koh WP, Krieger JE, Kritchevsky SB, Kubo M, Kuusisto J, Lakka TA, Langefeld CD, Langenberg C, Launer LJ, Lehne B, Lewis CE, Li Y, Lin S, Liu J, Liu J, Loh M, Louie T, Mägi R, McKenzie CA, Meitinger T, Metspalu A, Milaneschi Y, Milani L, Mohlke KL, Momozawa Y, Nalls MA, Nelson CP, Sotoodehnia N, Norris JM, O'Connell JR, Palmer ND, Perls T, Pedersen NL, Peters A, Peyser PA, Poulter N, Raffel LJ, Raitakari OT, Roll K, Rose LM, Rosendaal FR, Rotter JI, Schmidt CO, Schreiner PJ, Schupf N, Scott WR, Sever PS, Shi Y, Sidney S, Sims M, Sitlani CM, Smith JA, Snieder H, Starr JM, Strauch K, Stringham HM, Tan NYQ, Tang H, Taylor KD, Teo YY, Tham YC, Turner ST, Uitterlinden AG, Vollenweider P, Waldenberger M, Wang L, Wang YX, Wei WB, Williams C, Yao J, Yu C, Yuan JM, Zhao W, Zonderman AB, Becker DM, Boehnke M, Bowden DW, Chambers JC, Deary IJ, Esko T, Farrall M, Franks PW, Freedman BI, Froguel P, Gasparini P, Gieger C, Jonas JB, Kamatani Y, Kato N, Kooner JS, Kutalik Z, Laakso M, Laurie CC, Leander K, Lehtimäki T, Study LC, Magnusson PKE, Oldehinkel AJ, Penninx BWJH, Polasek O, Porteous DJ, Rauramaa 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, Bouchard C, Christensen K, Evans MK, Gudnason V, Horta BL, Kardia SLR, Liu Y, Pereira AC, Psaty BM, Ridker PM, van Dam RM, Gauderman WJ, Zhu X, Mook-Kanamori DO, Fornage M, Rotimi CN, Cupples LA, Kelly TN, Fox ER, Hayward C, van Duijn CM, Tai ES, Wong TY, Kooperberg C, Palmas W, Rice K, Morrison AC, Elliott P, Caulfield MJ, Munroe PB, Rao DC, Province MA, Levy D Novel genetic associations for blood pressure identified via gene-alcohol interaction in up to 570K individuals across multiple ancestries 2018 Jan;13(6):e0198166. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0198166. Epub 2018-06-18. PubMed
de Oliveira Otto MC, Lemaitre RN, Sun Q, King IB, Wu JHY, Manichaikul A, Rich SS, Tsai MY, Chen YD, Fornage M, Weihua G, Aslibekyan S, Irvin MR, Kabagambe EK, Arnett DK, Jensen MK, McKnight B, Psaty BM, Steffen LM, Smith CE, Risérus U, Lind L, Hu FB, Rimm EB, Siscovick DS, Mozaffarian D Genome-wide association meta-analysis of circulating odd-numbered chain saturated fatty acids: Results from the CHARGE Consortium 2018 Jan;13(5):e0196951. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0196951. Epub 2018-05-08. PubMed
Liu CY, Heckbert SR, Lai S, Ambale-Venkatesh B, Ostovaneh MR, McClelland RL, Lima JAC, Bluemke DA. Association of elevated NT-proBNP with myocardial fibrosis in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). J Am Coll Cardiol. 2017;70(25):3102-3109. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2017.10.044. PubMed
Researchers in Cardiovascular Health
 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 |
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
Frequent standing may boost heart health after menopause
Study suggests taking short standing breaks can improve health even if total sitting time stays the same.
Research
Study links sitting for longer stretches to risk of blood clots in older women
Taking more breaks from sitting could potentially lower the risk.
Research
Study finds bariatric surgery linked to substantially lower risk of blood clots long-term
Largest study to date helps patients weigh risks and benefits of surgery.
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.
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