Vaccines save lives by protecting people against infectious diseases — polio, influenza, and pneumonia to name a few. Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI) is working to protect communities through research to continually improve the safety and effectiveness of vaccines for infectious diseases of public health importance.
Central to this work is testing new vaccines against emerging diseases — such as COVID-19. In March 2020, KPWHRI gave the world’s first-ever injection of an investigational vaccine for COVID-19 in a phase 1 clinical trial led by Senior Investigator Lisa A. Jackson, MD, MPH. We continue to be at the forefront of efforts to understand and combat COVID-19. To learn more, see COVID-19 research at KPWHRI.
Successes over 3 decades of KPWHRI vaccine research include:
Our current research projects on vaccines and infectious diseases include:
Sumner KM, Yadav R, Noble EK, Sandford R, Joshi D, Tartof SY, Wernli KJ, Martin ET, Gaglani M, Zimmerman RK, Talbot HK, Grijalva CG, Belongia EA, Chung JR, Rogier E, Coughlin MM, Flannery B. Anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels associated with COVID-19 protection in outpatients tested for SARS-CoV-2, US Flu VE Network, October 2021-June 2022. J Infect Dis. 2024 Feb 23:jiae090. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiae090. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Pocobelli G, Oliver M, Albertson-Junkans L, Gundersen G, Kamineni A. Validation of human immunodeficiency virus diagnosis codes among women enrollees of a U.S. health plan. BMC Health Serv Res. 2024;24(1):234. doi: 10.1186/s12913-024-10685-x. PubMed
Xu S, Sy LS, Hong V, Farrington P, Glenn SC, Ryan DS, Shirley AM, Lewin BJ, Tseng HF, Vazquez-Benitez G, Glanz JM, Fireman B, McClure DL, Hurley LP, Yu O, Wernecke M, Smith N, Weintraub ES, Qian L. Mortality risk after COVID-19 vaccination: A self-controlled case series study. Vaccine. 2024 Feb 21:S0264-410X(24)00191-9. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2024.02.032. PubMed
Markowitz LE, Hopkins RH Jr, Broder KR, Lee GM, Edwards KM, Daley MF, Jackson LA, Nelson JC, Riley LE, McNally VV, Schechter R, Whitley-Williams PN, Cunningham F, Clark M, Ryan M, Farizo KM, Wong HL, Kelman J, Beresnev T, Marshall V, Shay DK, Gee J, Woo J, McNeil MM, Su JR, Shimabukuro TT, Wharton M, Keipp Talbot H. COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Technical (VaST) Work Group: Enhancing vaccine safety monitoring during the pandemic. Vaccine. 2024 Feb 9:S0264-410X(23)01505-0. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2023.12.059. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Juraska M, Bai H, deCamp AC, Magaret CA, Li L, Gillespie K, Carpp LN, Giorgi EE, Ludwig J, Molitor C, Hudson A, Williamson BD, Espy N, Simpkins B, Rudnicki E, Shao D, Rossenkhan R, Edlefsen PT, Westfall DH, Deng W, Chen L, Zhao H, Bhattacharya T, Pankow A, Murrell B, Yssel A, Matten D, York T, Beaume N, Gwashu-Nyangiwe A, Ndabambi N, Thebus R, Karuna ST, Morris L, Montefiori DC, Hural JA, Cohen MS, Corey L, Rolland M, Gilbert PB, Williamson C, Mullins JI. Prevention efficacy of the broadly neutralizing antibody VRC01 depends on HIV-1 envelope sequence features. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2024;121(4):e2308942121. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2308942121. Epub 2024 Jan 19. PubMed
Lisa A. Jackson, MD, MPHSenior Investigator |
Jennifer C. Nelson, PhDDirector, Biostatistics; Senior Investigator |
Andrea J. Cook, PhDSenior Biostatistics Investigator |
Sascha Dublin, MD, PhDSenior Investigator |
Onchee Yu, MSPrincipal Collaborative Biostatistician |
Robert D. Wellman, MSPrincipal Collaborative Biostatistician |
Clarissa Hsu, PhDAssociate Investigator |
Brian D. Williamson, PhDAssistant Biostatistics Investigator |
Noorie Hyun, PhDAssociate Biostatistics Investigator |
Pamela A. Shaw, PhD, MSSenior Biostatistics Investigator |
Annie Piccorelli, PhDSenior Collaborative Biostatistician |
Doug Opel, MD, MPH
University of Washington (UW) Department of Bioethics and Humanities; UW Department of Pediatrics; UW Medical Center
John Dunn, MD, MPH
Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Washington
Elizabeth Lin, MD, MPH
Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Washington Family Practice;
Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute