Kaiser Permanente
Division of Research Spotlight
The Kaiser Permanente Division of Research conducts, publishes, and disseminates epidemiologic and health services research to improve the health and medical care of Kaiser Permanente members and society at large. We seek to understand the determinants of illness and well-being, and to improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of health care. Currently, DOR’s 550-plus staff is working on more than 350 epidemiological and health services research projects.
A single, 45-minute “motivational interview” with two 20-minute follow-up phone calls may help people with HIV who report unhealthy drinking reduce their alcohol intake, say researchers at UC San Francisco and Kaiser Permanente.
Division of Research investigators participated in a multi-institution collaborative analysis, which supported the safety of current transfusion practice within Kaiser Permanente’s network of community hospitals.
Children who were up to date on their pertussis vaccine schedule were far less likely to develop the disease than those unvaccinated. The risk of vaccinated children becoming ill increased with time since vaccination, suggesting waning effectiveness.
Direct-acting antiviral agents used to treat patients with the hepatitis C virus are not associated with higher rates of adverse liver, kidney, and cardiovascular events, according to research published in JAMA Network Open and supported by data from Kaiser Permanente Northern California.
The American Diabetes Association’s 2019 Norbert Freinkel Award has been presented to Kaiser Permanente researcher Assiamira Ferrara, MD, PhD, in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the understanding and treatment of diabetes in pregnancy.
A Kaiser Permanente study of more than 2,000 mothers and daughters found that the amount of weight mothers gained during pregnancy — whether too much or too little — was linked to the earlier onset of puberty in their daughters; the associations were even stronger when the mothers were overweight or obese at the beginning of the pregnancy.
“This study demonstrates the importance at every BMI level of having more precise measures of muscle and fat to help identify those patients who are at high risk of developing cardiovascular disease,” said co-author Bette J. Caan, DrPH.
"As a first-year medical student, I enjoyed learning about the pathophysiology of disease. But as I gained more experience caring for patients suffering from these diseases, I realized I wanted to focus more on understanding the patient’s experience."
Genetics research suggests that longer telomeres — the “end caps” of DNA that keep strands of chromosomes from unraveling — mean more years of healthy life ahead.
Nine out of 10 Kaiser Permanente members who had a primary-care video visit were confident in the quality of care received, reported that the provider was familiar with their medical history, and felt that their health care needs were adequately addressed.
