60 Years of Innovation

60 years ago, Morris F. Collen, MD, recognized the potential of combining the power of information technology with clinical care and sophisticated data analytics. Since its inception in 1961, Kaiser Permanente’s Division of Research has become internationally respected for research that transforms health by discovering the key drivers of health and disease and identifying effective and efficient ways to deliver health care.

Morris Collen, MD, becomes founding director of Medical Methods Research, later renamed the Division of Research, leading from 1961 to 1979.

The Division of Research receives its first grant from the U.S. Public Health Service to automate the multiphasic exam.

An IBM 1440 computer is used to store patient clinical data collected in the early detection of disease. The fledgling information system stored patient identification data, physician examination and patient history data, lab results, and EKG and X-ray interpretations.Learn more about computers screening for better health

The Division’s Edmund (Ted) Van Brunt, MD, pilots a computer-based patient medical record system with a database that supports both patient care and health services research. Kaiser Permanente becomes one of a handful of places in the world to start this pioneering work.

Investigators including Ted Van Brunt, MD, Morris Collen, MD, and colleagues publish a study about a “pilot medical information system” providing services for limited categories of patient data. This would go on to be known as the electronic health records system.

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A computer medical record now exists for all health plan members. These earliest records are still used in research today, and they allow the Division of Research to develop a data-based research agenda.

Ted Van Brunt, MD, becomes second director of DOR, leading from 1979 to 1991.

Investigators publish in the New England Journal of Medicine on mortality in middle-aged smokers.

The Division opens a research clinic to support the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study — a longitudinal study of heart health and disparities that continues to this day and has resulted in more than 600 published papers.

The Kaiser Permanente Vaccine Study Center is founded to monitor vaccine safety and effectiveness.

The Medical Methods Research Department changes its name to the Division of Research.

First CARDIA paper appears in the journal Controlled Clinical Trials.

Kaiser Permanente oncology clinical Trials (KPOCT) is established, enrolling hundreds of Kaiser Permanente patients each year in mostly multicenter, Phase 2 and 3 cancer studies.

A research team looks at the effectiveness of flexible sigmoidoscopy. Findings result in the Kaiser Permanente Colon Cancer Prevention Program and lead the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force to recommend colorectal cancer screening for the first time.

Learn more about the current status of a medical information system

A study of KPNC members links alcoholic beverage use to colon and rectal cancer.

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Vaccine Safety Datalink project founded in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with DOR’s Vaccine Study Center a founding site.

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Gary Friedman, MD, becomes DOR’s third director, leading from 1991 to 1998.

Morris Collen, MD, is honored by the American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI) as the first recipient of the highest honor it bestows, the Morris F. Collen Award of Excellence for Outstanding Contributions to the Field of Medical Informatics.

The confidential Member Health Survey begins. Conducted every 3 years, the survey explores sociodemographic and health-related characteristics of the adult membership of Kaiser Permanente Northern California.

Learn more about the Kaiser Permanente multiphasic evaluation study

The Division is a founding member of the HMO Research Network (now the Health Care Systems Research Network), ushering in an era of large-scale collaborations seeking to integrate research and practice for the improvement of health and health care in diverse populations.

The Division of Research is 1 of 40 clinical centers selected to enroll participants in the groundbreaking national Women’s Health Initiative, funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

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Joe Selby, MD, MPH, becomes DOR’s fourth director, leading from 1998 to 2011.

A DOR research team publishes a study in the New England Journal of Medicine that shows chronic kidney disease increases a person’s risk of heart disease, stroke, or death.

The Division of Research receives a $10 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to study whether lifestyle factors such as diet, exercise, and use of complementary and alternative medicine impact recurrence and survival rates for women with breast cancer.

Learn more about Kaiser Permanente researchers evaluating whether lifestyle changes improve prognosis for women with breast cancer

The Women’s Healthy Eating and Living Study — the largest randomized trial to look at diet and breast cancer risk — reports in JAMA that a diet high in vegetables, fruits, and fiber does not lower risk of invasive breast cancer in postmenopausal women.

Learn more about the low-fat dietary pattern and risk of invasive breast cancer

A comprehensive colorectal cancer screening study is launched that would go on to show how an integrated screening program can save lives.

Learn more about leading on screening for colorectal cancer

The Research Program on Genes, Environment and Health (RPGEH), now one of the largest such research projects in the United States, is established to examine genetic and environmental factors that influence a wide variety of common diseases such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and depression.

Learn more about Kaiser Permanente unveiling groundbreaking genetic research program

Study of more than 132,000 children suggests link between autism and advanced maternal and paternal age.

Learn more about risk of autism rises with age of moms, dads

DOR establishes the Comprehensive Clinical Research Unit (CCRU) to support clinical trials conducted by DOR research scientists and clinicians from The Permanente Medical Group across a variety of specialties. In 2018, this becomes the Clinical Trials Program.

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute provides $7.5 million over 5 years to establish a collaborative Cardiovascular Research Network within the HMO Research Network to better study the epidemiology, prevention, management, and outcomes of cardiovascular diseases.

Learn more about the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute creating a national network to study cardiovascular disease

DOR receives a $25 million Grand Opportunities grant from the National Institutes of Health to conduct genotyping on 100,000 Kaiser Permanente members participating in the Research Program on Genes, Environment and Health, the largest population-based biobank in the United States.

Kaiser Permanente researchers alert the CDC to preliminary evidence of an increased risk of febrile seizures following measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (MMRV) vaccination compared with separate MMR and V vaccines. CDC then recommends that families without a strong preference for MMRV should receive separate MMR and V vaccines.

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DOR joins Mental Health Research Network, whose first project is an autism registry.

Learn more about the autism registry

The Division becomes the lead site for the Cancer Research Network, a National Cancer Institute-funded initiative to support research in non-profit integrated health care delivery systems on all aspects of cancer care, from etiology through survivorship.

Tracy Lieu, MD, MPH, becomes fifth director of DOR, leading from 2012 to the present.

Learn more about DOR nameing Tracy Lieu, MD, MPH Its Fifth Director

The Division celebrates its 50th anniversary, with four of its five directors, scientists and staff, and leaders of Kaiser Permanente Northern California and The Permanente Medical Group.

Learn more about the DOR’s 50th anniversary

The Delivery Science Fellowship Program is established to train postdoctoral fellows on identifying and implementing best practices for delivering care to diverse populations. The program has since attracted nationwide interest.

Researchers report in JAMA that Kaiser Permanente Northern California nearly doubled the rate of blood pressure control among adult members with diagnosed hypertension between 2001 and 2009 through one of the largest, community-based hypertension programs ever developed.

Learn more about large-scale Kaiser Permanente program linked to improved blood pressure control

DOR research contributes to development of a neonatal sepsis risk calculator, safely reducing newborn antibiotic use by nearly 50 percent.

Learn more about the neonatal sepsis risk calculator

A celebration of life takes place upon the death of Morrie Collen on September 27, 2014.

Trial of the Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) technique finds benefit in adolescent substance use problems.

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First study of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis in a diverse, real-world setting is cited as one of the most important papers of the year by NIAID Director Anthony Fauci.

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Kaiser Permanente research published in Annals of Internal Medicine shows an annual fecal immunochemical test (FIT) is an effective screening tool for detecting colorectal cancer.

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A comprehensive Enhanced Recovery After Surgery program implemented in Kaiser Permanente’s 20 Northern California medical centers is found to reduce postoperative complication and opioid prescribing rates.

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DOR launches Physician Researcher Program with a mission to cultivate the research that drives evidence-based medicine.

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A team led by DOR researchers developed a practical tool for identifying diabetes patients at highest risk for ending up in an emergency department or hospital due to severe hypoglycemia.

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DOR study finds concerning increase in cannabis use by adolescents and pregnant women.

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Recognizing the importance of early multiphasic exams, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History takes ownership of some DOR punch cards to help share an important part of our country’s health care history.

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The Permanente Medical Group and DOR establish the Delivery Science and Applied Research (DARE) program to foster collaborations between clinician-investigators and DOR scientists. DARE provides infrastructure, connections, and analytic support to clinician-researchers for answering questions that will change care.

Kaiser Permanente data helps create street-level view of the health Impacts of air pollution in Oakland.

Learn more about Kaiser Permanente data helping create street-level view of the health impacts of air pollution in Oakland

Researchers find that significantly increasing minimally invasive surgery for hysterectomies reduced racial disparities in the types of hysterectomies patients get.

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Division of Research publishes study in JAMA showing wide age range of adults hospitalized with COVID-19, dispelling idea only older adults were being hospitalized with COVID-19.

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Research scientists publish some of the first papers to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer screening and heart attack and stroke care.

Learn more about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer screening and heart attack and stroke care

Autistic youth transitioning to adulthood have unique health needs and need assistance from the medical community, according to research from DOR’s Autism Research Program.

Learn more about clinicians needing to build bridges to transition care for young adults with autism

The Vaccine Study Center joins the clinical trial for Pfizer/BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine, enrolling adults and later teenagers aged 16 and 17, adolescents aged 12 to 15, and children aged 6 to 11.

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DOR predictive analytics specialists teamed up with nursing and hospital leaders to create the Advance Alert Monitor system, which identifies hospital patients at risk of rapid deterioration. In an analysis published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the system is associated with lower mortality.

Learn more about real-time in-hospital alerts associated with lower patient mortality

Health systems could use data from routine clinical care to identify the onset of upcoming COVID-19 surges as many as 6 weeks before they occur, researchers reported in a study published in BMJ Open.

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A study in JAMA of 6.2 million patients by Kaiser Permanente and CDC researchers found no serious health effects linked to the 2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, findings also reported in the New England Journal of Medicine and CDC publications.

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A study in the New England Journal of Medicine found a method to remove race from controversial kidney function equations without losing accuracy. The findings helped inform new National Kidney Foundation-American Society of Nephrology Task Force guidelines on evaluating kidney function.

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Kaiser Permanente researcher will co-lead $32.7 million colorectal cancer screening study to focus on older adults with low-risk polyps.

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A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that KPNC’s regionwide, structured colorectal cancer screening program eliminated disparities in outcomes between Black and white adults.

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Researchers published findings in JAMA Internal Medicine showing that COVID-19 infection more than doubled the risk of severe complications during pregnancy.

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Largest-ever study of thoracic aortic aneurysm provided high-quality evidence that most of the 33,000 patients diagnosed each year in the U.S. with this type of aneurysm are not likely to experience a tear or rupture — an aortic dissection — and may not need open-heart surgery.

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Low rate of follow-up in-person care needed after early pandemic telehealth visits, finds study published in the American Journal of Managed Care. The results of the large analysis suggest telehealth is safe and effective.

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DOR vaccine researchers led a large analysis published in Pediatrics finding COVID-19 vaccination waned in children and teens, but boosters increased protection.

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