“We’re looking for innovative ways to both treat and prevent obesity — including creating healthier environments and designing programs for whole families.”

David Arterburn, MD, MPH
Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute Senior Investigator
Washington Permanente Medical Group, Internal Medicine

Research overview

“Obesity is the number-one health problem in the United States because it negatively affects our population’s health more than any other condition,” said Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute Senior Investigator David Arterburn, MD, MPH. Kaiser Permanente Washington researchers are doing practical research to learn how doctors, patients, families, employers, and policymakers can best work together to prevent and treat obesity.

“We’re focusing on three ways to halt the obesity epidemic,” said Senior Investigator Dori Rosenberg, PhD, MPH. “We’re helping to change obesity-promoting environments, bringing evidence-based prevention and treatment programs into health care systems, and helping people develop lifelong healthy diet and activity habits.”

Kaiser Permanente Washington obesity research areas include:

  • reducing sedentary behavior and promoting physical activity and healthy diet in various age groups, populations with chronic conditions, and families;
  • shared decision making to help patients find the best way to a healthy weight;
  • implementing health coaches in primary care to support behavior changes;
  • social networks that support lifestyle change programs;
  • relationships between medications and genetic factors in developing obesity;
  • health system, community, and national policies that address obesity;
  • relationships between obesity and depression, diabetes, and other conditions; and
  • long-term benefits and risks of bariatric (weight loss) surgery.

“Obesity is caused by many factors, so at Kaiser Permanente Washington, we’re working on many levels,” said Paula Lozano, MD, MPH, a senior investigator and Kaiser Permanente Washington’s assistant medical director for preventive care. “We’re improving health care to help people who are obese now. But since obesity is a societal problem, we’re also studying how to change our homes and workplaces and neighborhoods to create more healthy environments.”

Recent publications on Obesity

Ehlers AP, Yang J, Thumma J, Howard R, O’Neill S, Arterburn D, Telem DA, Dimick JB. Comparison of safety and healthcare utilization following sleeve gastrectomy or gastric bypass among medicare beneficiaries using sex as a biologic variable. Surg Obes Relat Dis. 2023 Oct;19(10):1119-1126. doi: 10.1016/j.soard.2023.04.332. Epub 2023 Apr 29. PubMed

Hung A, Maciejewski ML, Berkowitz TSZ, Arterburn DE, Mitchell JE, Bradley KA, Kimbrel NA, Smith VA. Bariatric surgery and suicide risk in patients with obesity. Ann Surg. 2023 Oct 1;278(4):e760-e765. doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000005825. Epub 2023 Feb 21. PubMed

Chao GF, Yang J, Thumma J, Chhabra KR, Arterburn DE, Ryan A, Telem DA, Dimick JB. Correction: Volume-outcome relationships for Roux-en-Y gastric bypass patients in the sleeve gastrectomy era. LID - 10.1007/s00464-022-09849-9 [doi] FAU - Chao, Grace F AU - Chao GF AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-3133-9827  Surg Endosc. 2023 Jan 27. doi: 10.1007/s00464-022-09849-9. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed

Arterburn D, Tuzzio L, Anau J, Lewis CC, Williams N, Courcoulas A, Stilwell D, Tavakkoli A, Ahmed B, Wilcox M, Fischer GS, Paul K, Handley M, Gupta A, McTigue K. Identifying barriers to shared decision-making about bariatric surgery in two large health systems. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2023 Feb;31(2):565-573. doi: 10.1002/oby.23647. Epub 2023 Jan 12. PubMed

Robinson JR, Carroll RJ, Bastarache L, Chen Q, Pirruccello J, Mou Z, Wei WQ, Connolly J, Mentch F, Crane PK, Hebbring SJ, Crosslin DR, Gordon AS, Rosenthal EA, Stanaway IB, Hayes MG, Wei W, Petukhova L, Namjou-Khales B, Zhang G, Safarova MS, Walton NA, Still C, Bottinger EP, Loos RJF, Murphy SN, Jackson GP, Abumrad N, Kullo IJ, Jarvik GP, Larson EB, Weng C, Roden D, Khera AV, Denny JC. Quantifying the phenome-wide disease burden of obesity using electronic health records and genomics. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2022 Dec;30(12):2477-2488. doi: 10.1002/oby.23561. Epub 2022 Nov 13. PubMed

Researchers in Obesity

David E. Arterburn, MD, MPH

Senior Investigator
206-287-4610
David.E.Arterburn@kp.org

Curriculum vitae (CV)

Paula Lozano, MD, MPH

Senior Investigator; Director, ACT Center
206-287-2113
Paula.Lozano@kp.org

Curriculum vitae (CV)

Allen Cheadle, PhD

Senior Investigator, KPWHRI; Senior Research Associate, CCHE
206-287-4391
Allen.D.Cheadle@kp.org

Curriculum vitae (CV)

Dori E. Rosenberg, PhD, MPH

Senior Investigator
206-287-2532
Dori.E.Rosenberg@kp.org

Curriculum vitae (CV)

Gregory E. Simon, MD, MPH

Senior Investigator
206-287-2979
Gregory.E.Simon@kp.org

Curriculum vitae (CV)

Andrea J. Cook, PhD

Senior Biostatistics Investigator
206-287-4257
Andrea.J.Cook@kp.org

Curriculum vitae (CV)

Beverly B. Green, MD, MPH

Senior Investigator
206-287-2997
Bev.B.Green@kp.org

Curriculum vitae (CV)

Maricela Cruz, PhD

Assistant Biostatistics Investigator
206-287-2878
Maricela.F.Cruz@kp.org

Curriculum vitae (CV)

Mikael Anne Greenwood-Hickman, MPH

Collaborative Scientist
(206) 287-2908
Mikael.Anne.Greenwood-Hickman@kp.org

Laurel Hansell, MA, MPH

Collaborative Scientist
laurel.d.hansell@kp.org

Curriculum vitae (CV)

Nicole M. Gatto, PhD, MPH

Principal Collaborative Scientist
Nicole.M.Gatto@kp.org

Curriculum vitae (CV)