Our Research
Science to serve one goal: Better health
Scientists at Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI) have a rare advantage: We work within a system that provides both care and coverage. With a 360-degree view of people’s everyday health experience over time, we discover what works best to serve Kaiser Permanente's mission: better health.
We collaborate closely with Kaiser Permanente Washington's medical staff and other providers — gaining from their perspectives on practical approaches to health care’s toughest problems. Together, we create a learning health care system — a place where research strengthens practice and practice strengthen research.
Scientists
Working in the public interest
Our faculty work on interdisciplinary research teams, conducting about 300 studies at any given time. They partner with affiliate researchers and others from academic institutions and health systems and share findings in the public domain to serve the public good.
See our KPWHRI researcher directory.
2023 annual report
Research and innovation for better health
In 2023, KPWHRI conducted impactful studies on cancer screening, vaccine safety, suicide prevention, dementia care, and more.
Funding sources
A broad base of support
Most of our support comes from federal agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health. We also contract with biomedical companies and receive grants from private foundations. About 5 percent of our budget comes from Kaiser Permanente Washington.
See our list of funders.
Research
Changing sitting habits shows meaningful impact
A new trial highlights a promising intervention to improve blood pressure in older adults.
Recent publications
Carter-Bawa L, Slaven JE Jr, Monahan PO, Brandzel S, Gao H, Wernli KJ, Lafata JE, Rawl SM. Unpacking the relationship between shared decision-making and decisional quality, decision to screen, and screening completion in lung cancer screening. Patient Educ Couns. 2024;122:108143. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2024.108143. Epub 2024 Jan 11. PubMed
Haas CB, Chen H, Harrison T, Fan S, Gago-Dominguez M, Castelao JE, Bolla MK, Wang Q, Dennis J, Michailidou K, Dunning AM, Easton DF, Antoniou AC, Hall P, Czene K, Andrulis IL, Mulligan AM, Milne RL, Fasching PA, Haeberle L, Garcia-Closas M, Ahearn T, Gierach GL, Haiman C, Maskarinec G, Couch FJ, Olson JE, John EM, Chenevix-Trench G, de Gonzalez AB, Jones M, Stone J, Murphy R, Aronson KJ, Wernli KJ, Hsu L, Vachon C, Tamimi RM, Lindström S. Disentangling the relationships of body mass index and circulating sex hormone concentrations in mammographic density using Mendelian randomization. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2024 Apr 24. doi: 10.1007/s10549-024-07306-w. Online ahead of print. PubMed
Frakt A, Tachibana C. From the Editor's Desk: Publishing in HSR in 2022. Health Serv Res. 2024;59(2):e14294. doi: 10.1111/1475-6773.14294. Epub 2024 Feb 27. PubMed
Weberpals J, Raman SR, Shaw PA, Lee H, Hammill BG, Toh S, Connolly JG, Dandreo KJ, Tian F, Liu W, Li J, Hernández-Muñoz JJ, Glynn RJ, Desai RJ. smdi: an R package to perform structural missing data investigations on partially observed confounders in real-world evidence studies. JAMIA Open. 2024 Jan 31;7(1):ooae008. doi: 10.1093/jamiaopen/ooae008. eCollection 2024. PubMed
Collaborate with us
KPWHRI oversees all research conducted at Kaiser Permanente Washington, ensuring that all studies involving Kaiser Permanente Washington members are aligned with the organization’s primary mission: to improve health. Researchers from outside Kaiser Permanente Washington can learn more about our processes for collaborating with KPWHRI faculty members.
Land Acknowledgment
Our Seattle offices sit on the occupied land of the Duwamish and by the shared waters of the Coast Salish people, who have been here thousands of years and remain. Learn about practicing land acknowledgment.