Research and Impact
Institute researchers leverage our connection to both a medical school and a health plan to research effective interventions and systems of care that can improve health care delivery, inform and enhance prevention efforts, evaluate and inform health policy, and contribute to public health.
A Dynamic Portfolio
We are distinctive for aligning researchers and resources to optimize health care policy, care delivery, and outcomes. The result is an agile team that meets emerging needs head on, tackling the changing needs of populations.
Research Projects
Our research is stewarded by our research administration team. With their expertise and oversight, the rights and welfare of research participants are protected, and our research community can grow and thrive.
Research Administration
Institute Impact
Explore how our research generates actionable findings, leading to concrete changes in policies and programs.
Highlights
The Benefits of Fish Consumption
Maternal & Pediatric HealthOur research has led to concrete change in fish consumption guidelines for pregnant women and children.
Better evidence-based guidelines for fish intake consider the overall health impact of fish consumption - not only toxicant risks, but nutrient benefits. This work has been cited in widely-used guidelines:
2024 National Academy of Medicine report on the Role of Seafood in Child Health and Development
2024 Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on the Risks and Benefits of Fish Consumption
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Defining Sepsis to Improve Surveillance
Infectious DiseaseWork led by Chanu Rhee and Michael Klompas led to the development of an objective surveillance definition for sepsis that formed the basis of CDC’s “Adult Sepsis Event” (pdf download) surveillance strategy and has been used to generate CDC’s estimates of US sepsis burden.
Forming an accurate, objective definition of sepsis ultimately increased the consistency and reliability of sepsis surveillance compared to prior use of administrative data and generated important insights into sepsis epidemiology and quality of care.
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Informing Policy to Protect Against Discrimination
Infectious DiseaseResearch led by Douglas Krakower and Julia Marcus examining the life expectancy of people with and without HIV contributed to legislation that protects people living with HIV in California from discrimination by life and disability insurance companies.
Ultimately, this work helped shape the state’s Equal Insurance HIV Act, which updates the HIV statutes to reflect advancements in HIV testing and medical treatments and the overall increase of average life expectancies for individuals who have tested positive for HIV.
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Ongoing Projects
Keep up with our current work
Publications
Using rigorous research methods, we actively contribute to a growing and impactful body of scientific knowledge.
Featured Key Publication
Medication-Induced Weight Change Across Common Antidepressant Treatments : A Target Trial Emulation Study
Led by Joshua Petimar, this study compared weight change across eight common first-line antidepressants for patients taking an antidepressant for the first time. While randomized control trials are considered the most rigorous method for comparing the effects of different medications, they are prohibitively costly and time consuming. In this case, the study team emulated a randomized trial by designing their ideal, hypothetical trial and aligning the data to match that trial as closely as possible.
The team found differences in weight change between the different antidepressants after medication initiation, with bupropion consistently showing the least weight gain. Overall, the study adds rigorous evidence on expected weight gain across common antidepressant treatments