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.
What does it take to be sure the annual flu vaccine is effective and safe? Research. In a podcast, Nicola Klein, head of the Vaccine Study Center, tackles some common questions about the vaccine and recent findings.
A Kaiser Permanente analysis of women who did not get flu shots during their pregnancies found the women clustered in geographic “hot spots.” These women tended to have fewer prenatal medical visits and live in low-income neighborhoods.
The Division of Research has joined a phase 3 clinical trial testing a Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine against the COVID-19 virus. Kaiser Permanente Southern California and Northwest join them in this global effort.
A Kaiser Permanente study of women who were given inactivated influenza vaccine while pregnant found no indication of developmental problems for their babies at 6 months old.
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.
In part 2 of our profile series, meet the last three of the seven early-career researchers who began their post-doctoral appointments this past year and represent not only diverse communities but diverse research interests as well.
The JAMA Network, the publication home for numerous top-tier journals from the American Medical Association, released a list of the “Most Talked About Articles” in each of their various publications for 2018. DOR research appears on four lists.
Kaiser Permanente collaborated with CDC researchers to study the effectiveness of flu vaccinations in preventing influenza-associated hospitalizations during pregnancy.
Children with autism and their younger siblings are significantly less likely to be fully vaccinated than the general population, according to new research published in JAMA Pediatrics.
A new study shows that a treatment regimen of 8 weeks for hepatitis C may be just as effective as 12 weeks in black patients. The study also showed that more people overall can take advantage of the shorter treatment durations, which has important implications for access given the medication’s high cost.
