“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 associate 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:
“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.”
Basu A, Barton LJ, Fischer H, Reynolds K, Arterburn DE, Barthold D, Courcoulas A, Crawford CL, Fedorka PN, Kim BB, Mun EC, Murali SB, Zane RE, Coleman KJ. Comparative effectiveness of gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy on predicted 10-year risk of cardiovascular disease 5 years after surgery. Surg Obes Relat Dis. 2022 Mar 9:S1550-7289(22)00098-3. doi: 10.1016/j.soard.2022.02.021, [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Chhabra KR, Telem DA, Chao GF, Arterburn DE, Yang J, Thumma JR, Ryan AM, Blumental B, Dimick JB. Comparative safety of sleeve gastrectomy and gastric bypass: an instrumental variables approach. Ann Surg. 2022 Mar 1;275(3):539-545. doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000004297. PubMed
Chao GF, Yang J, Peahl AF, Thumma JR, Dimick JB, Arterburn DE, Telem DA. Comparative effectiveness of sleeve gastrectomy vs Roux-en-Y gastric bypass in patients giving birth after bariatric surgery: reinterventions and obstetric outcomes. Surg Endosc. 2022 Jan 31. doi: 10.1007/s00464-022-09063-7. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Coughlin JW, Nauman E, Wellman R, Coley RY, McTigue KM, Coleman KJ, Jones DB, Lewis K, Tobin JN, Wee CC, Fitzpatrick SL, Desai JR, Murali S, Morrow EH, Rogers AM, Wood GC, Schlundt DG, Apovian CM, Duke MC, McClay JC, Soans R, Nemr R, Williams N, Courcoulas A, Holmes JH, Anau J, Toh S, Sturtevant JL, Horgan CE, Cook AJ, Arterburn DE; PCORnet Bariatric Study Collaborative. Preoperative depression status and five year metabolic and bariatric surgery outcomes in the PCORNET bariatric study cohort. Ann Surg. 2022 Jan 19. doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000005364. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Howard R, Chao GF, Yang J, Thumma JR, Arterburn DE, Telem DA, Dimick JB. Medication use for obesity-related comorbidities after sleeve gastrectomy or gastric bypass. JAMA Surg. 2022 Jan 12. doi: 10.1001/jamasurg.2021.6898. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
![]() David E. Arterburn, MD, MPHSenior Investigator, KPWHRI; Physician, Washington Permanente Medical Group, Internal Medicine |
![]() Paula Lozano, MD, MPHSenior Investigator, Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute |
![]() Allen Cheadle, PhDSenior Research Associate, Center for Community Health & Evaluation; Senior Investigator, KPWHRI |
![]() Dori E. Rosenberg, PhD, MPHAssociate Investigator |
![]() Gregory E. Simon, MD, MPHSenior Investigator |
![]() Andrea J. Cook, PhDSenior Biostatistics Investigator |
![]() Beverly B. Green, MD, MPHSenior Investigator |
![]() Maricela Cruz, PhDAssistant Biostatistics Investigator |
![]() Mikael Anne Greenwood-Hickman, MPHResearch Associate II |