Andrew L. Avins, MD, MPH

andy.l.avins@kp.org

Andrew L. Avins, MD, MPH, is a research scientist at the Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California; he holds appointments in the Departments of Medicine and Epidemiology & Biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco, where he remains active in the clinical and teaching programs. Dr. Avins is a board-certified general internist. His research interests include musculoskeletal and cardiovascular diseases, preventive medicine (with an emphasis on screening and treatment policies), complementary and alternative medicine (with an emphasis on clinical trials of alternative therapies), and research methodologies.

Current Positions

Research Scientist III, Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California
Clinical Professor, Department of Medicine and Adjunct Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco
Physician, Urgent Care, Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, Oakland, CA
Staff Physician, General Internal Medicine Section, Medical Service, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Francisco, CA

Section Affiliations

Behavioral Health and Aging

Primary Research Interests

Musculoskeletal diseases
Cardiovascular diseases
Preventive medicine
Complementary and alternative medicine
Research methodologies, with an emphasis on clinical trials

Studies

Social Expression in the Treatment of Gender Dysphoria: Longitudinal Outcomes from a Novel Gender Expression Care Program

This study will measure the intermediate-term effectiveness of Gender Expression Care (GEC), and the variability in the components driving overall program effectiveness, among individuals who participate in the GEC workshop. Our hypothesis is that participation in GEC will be associated with improved confidence in social gender expression and quality of life. We anticipate that we will observe variability in effectiveness of the various GEC components, identifying opportunities for enhancing the overall effectiveness of the GEC program.
We will also conduct a qualitative study of 30 members who have completed the GEC program. We anticipate that focus group participants will provide nuanced information based on their lived experience to support correction of deficits and expansion of program strengths to improve outcomes for future GEC participants.

Investigator: Avins, Andrew

Funder: TPMG Delivery Science Projects Program

Pragmatic Trial of Acupuncture for Chronic Low Back Pain in Older Adults

The
goal of this project is to conduct a three-arm parallel-group randomized
clinical trial of two acupuncture interventions vs. a usual-care control
group for change in low back pain symptoms among adults at least 65 years of
age.

Investigator: Avins, Andrew

Funder: National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health

A Randomized, Double-Blind, Noninferiority Trial of Adductor Canal Catheters for Postoperative Pain Management among Patients Undergoing Elective Unilateral Total Knee Arthroplasty

A randomized, double-blind noninferiority trial of adductor canal catheters for postoperative pain management among patients undergoing elective, unilateral, total-knee arthroplasty.

Investigator: Avins, Andrew

Funder: The Permanente Medical Group

Risk-Based Breast Cancer Screening and Surveillance in Community Settings

The major goal of this project is to maintain and expand the San Francisco Mammography Registry and to evaluate the performance of mammography in an ethnically diverse population.

Investigator: Avins, Andrew

Funder: National Cancer Institute

Carotid Revascularization and Medical Management for Asymptomatic Carotid Stenosis Trial (CREST-2)

Carotid revascularization for primary prevention of stroke (CREST-2) is two independent multi-center, randomized controlled trials of carotid revascularization and intensive medical management versus medical management alone in patients with asymptomatic high-grade carotid stenosis. One trial will randomize patients in a 1-to-1 ratio to endarterectomy versus no endarterectomy, and another will randomize patients in a 1-to-1 ratio to carotid stenting with embolic protection versus no stenting. Medical management will be uniform for all randomized treatment groups and will be centrally directed. The purpose of this trial is to determine the best way to prevent strokes in people who have a high amount of blockage of their carotid artery but no stroke symptoms related to that blockage.

Investigator: Nguyen-Huynh, Mai; Avins, Andrew; Chang, Robert

Funder: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

An Evaluation of the KPNC Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Screening Program

The objective of this study is to evaluate a new Northern California screening program for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) in terms of its effect among relevant patients on their AAA-related outcomes of care and processes of care. Aneurysms of the infrarenal portion of the abdominal aorta are generally asypmptomatic until they rupture, an event that is usually fatal. Clinical trials have shown that, despite the risk associated with interventions, repair of the aneurysm results in a lower overall and cardiovascular mortality among male smokers, aged 65-75. KPNC will invite all members in this group to a one-time ultrasound screening appointment in a stepped fashion across all facilities. We will take advantage of this stepped program implementation to investigate the effect of an invitation to screening vs. the control membership awaiting screening; the primary outcomes are total mortality, AAA-related mortality and the need for emergent surgery for a ruptured AAA.

Investigator: Avins, Andrew

Funder: Center for Effectiveness and Safety Research

Mindfulness and Migraine: A Randomized Controlled Trial

The goal of this study is to conduct a randomized clinical trial of a mindfulness-based stress reduction intervention versus a usual care control for the prevention of recurrent migraine in adults.

Investigator: Avins, Andrew

Funder: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine

A Pragmatic Trial of Lumbar Image Reporting with Epidemiology (LIRE2)

The goal of this investigation is to study the effect of providing descriptive epidemiologic information to primary care providers on lumbar spine imaging reports. A pilot study by this group found that including information about the prevalence of abnormal radiographic findings among normals on the radiology reports of lumbar spine imaging reduced health-care utilization and the prescription of opiods to patients with low back pain who had abnormalities on the lumbar spine imaging. This will be a multicenter study using cluster-randomization techniques.

Investigator: Avins, Andrew

Funder: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Publications

Reply by Authors

Authors: Presti, Joseph;Horton, Brandon;Alexeeff, Stacey;Prausnitz, Stephanie;Avins, Andrew L

Urol Pract. 2024 Jun 21:101097UPJ0000000000000663.

Andrew L. Avins, MD, MPH

Current Positions

Section Affiliations

Primary Research Interests

Studies

Social Expression in the Treatment of Gender Dysphoria: Longitudinal Outcomes from a Novel Gender Expression Care Program

Pragmatic Trial of Acupuncture for Chronic Low Back Pain in Older Adults

A Randomized, Double-Blind, Noninferiority Trial of Adductor Canal Catheters for Postoperative Pain Management among Patients Undergoing Elective Unilateral Total Knee Arthroplasty

Risk-Based Breast Cancer Screening and Surveillance in Community Settings

Carotid Revascularization and Medical Management for Asymptomatic Carotid Stenosis Trial (CREST-2)

An Evaluation of the KPNC Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Screening Program

Mindfulness and Migraine: A Randomized Controlled Trial

A Pragmatic Trial of Lumbar Image Reporting with Epidemiology (LIRE2)

Publications

Reply by Authors

Prospective Evaluation of the Kaiser Permanente Prostate Cancer Risk Calculator in Biopsy-Naïve Men with Mild PSA Elevations

Prior acupuncture experience among elderly participants enrolled in a clinical trial of acupuncture for chronic low back pain: Implications for future trials

Transcriptome-wide association study identifies novel candidate susceptibility genes for migraine

Screening for Prostate Cancer

A comparative effectiveness study of carotid intervention for long-term stroke prevention in patients with severe asymptomatic stenosis from a large integrated health system

The implementation checklist: A pragmatic instrument for accelerating research-to-implementation cycles

A Learning Health System Approach to Increasing Human Papillomavirus Immunizations Among Young Adults

Acupuncture for chronic low back pain in older adults: Design and protocol for the BackInAction pragmatic clinical trial

A population-health approach to characterizing migraine by comorbidity: Results from the Mindfulness and Migraine Cohort Study

Ischemic Stroke in Patients With Asymptomatic Severe Carotid Stenosis Without Surgical Intervention-Reply

Osteoporosis identification among previously undiagnosed individuals with vertebral fractures

Natural History of Asymptomatic Moderate Carotid Artery Stenosis in a Large Community-Based Cohort

D?ugoterminowa skuteczno?? zewn?trzoponowych iniekcji steroidów po nowych epizodach bólu krzy?a u osób starszych.

Incidence of Ischemic Stroke in Patients With Asymptomatic Severe Carotid Stenosis Without Surgical Intervention

Impact of COVID-19 on the Incidence and Severity of Obstetric and Gynecologic Emergency Department Visits in an Integrated Health Care System

A refined procedure for esophageal resection using a full minimally invasive approach

The Natural History of Large Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms in Patients without Timely Repair

Reply by Authors

Race-Specific Trends in Prostate Cancer Screening and Presentation before and after the 2012 United States Preventive Services Task Force Statement

Establishing a Carotid Artery Stenosis Disease Cohort for Comparative Effectiveness Research Using Natural Language Processing

Association of COA1 with Patellar Tendonitis: A Genome-wide Association Analysis

Prospective validation of the Kaiser Permanente prostate cancer risk calculator in a contemporary, racially diverse, referral population

Expected Organizational Costs for Inserting Prevalence Information Into Lumbar Spine Imaging Reports

Patient, Provider, and Clinic Characteristics Associated with Opioid and Non-Opioid Pain Prescriptions for Patients Receiving Low Back Imaging in Primary Care

Impact of 2012 Prostate Cancer Screening Statement

Automated Extraction of Structured Data from Text Notes in the Electronic Medical Record

Validation of Natural Language Processing to Determine the Presence and Size of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms in a Large Integrated Health System

New and sex-specific migraine susceptibility loci identified from a multiethnic genome-wide meta-analysis

Providing Epidemiologic Data in Lumbar Spine Imaging Reports Did Not Affect Subsequent Utilization of Spine Procedures: Secondary Outcomes from a Stepped-Wedge Randomized Controlled Trial

Three genes associated with anterior and posterior cruciate ligament injury : a genome-wide association analysis

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the Incidence of Obstetric and Gynecologic Emergency Department Visits in an Integrated Health Care System

A Genome-wide Association Study for Concussion Risk

Closing the gap: Identification and management of familial hypercholesterolemia in an integrated healthcare delivery system

Gestational weight gain and adverse pregnancy outcomes by pre-pregnancy BMI category in women with chronic hypertension: A cohort study

Long-term Stroke Risk with Carotid Endarterectomy in Patients with Severe Carotid Stenosis

Response by Flint et al to Letter Regarding Article, “Risk of Distal Embolization From tPA (Tissue-Type Plasminogen Activator) Administration Prior to Endovascular Stroke Treatment”

Recruitment, retention, and adherence in a randomized feasibility trial of mindfulness-based stress reduction for patients with migraine

Changing Provider PSA Screening Behavior Using Best Practice Advisories: Interventional Study in a Multispecialty Group Practice

Natural history of achondroplasia: A retrospective review of longitudinal clinical data

Prospective development of a prostate cancer risk calculator in a racially diverse population: The Kaiser Permanente Prostate Cancer Risk Calculator

Risk Factors for Conversion of Hip Arthroscopy to Total Hip Arthroplasty: A Large Closed-Cohort Study

Pilot pragmatic randomized trial of mHealth mindfulness-based intervention for advanced cancer patients and their informal caregivers

Risk of Distal Embolization From tPA (Tissue-Type Plasminogen Activator) Administration Prior to Endovascular Stroke Treatment

Comparing three approaches for involving patients in research prioritization: a qualitative study of participant experiences

Changes in Prostate Cancer Presentation Following the 2012 USPSTF Screening Statement: Observational Study in a Multispecialty Group Practice

Postoperative Opioid Use Before and After Enhanced Recovery After Surgery Program Implementation

Multisite Pain Is Associated with Long-term Patient-Reported Outcomes in Older Adults with Persistent Back Pain

Conducting a pilot randomized controlled trial of community-based mindfulness-based stress reduction versus usual care for moderate-to-severe migraine: protocol for the Mindfulness and Migraine Study (M&M)

Lumbar Spinal Stenosis Severity by CT or MRI Does Not Predict Response to Epidural Corticosteroid versus Lidocaine Injections

A Randomized Controlled Trial of mHealth Mindfulness Intervention for Cancer Patients and Informal Cancer Caregivers: A Feasibility Study Within an Integrated Health Care Delivery System

Long-term outcomes of a large, prospective observational cohort of older adults with back pain

Systemic effects of epidural steroid injections for spinal stenosis

Two Genetic Variants Associated with Plantar Fascial Disorders

Associations of Early Opioid Use with Patient-Reported Outcomes and Healthcare Utilization Among Older Adults with Low Back Pain

A Pilot Mobile-based Mindfulness Intervention for Cancer Patients and their Informal Caregivers

Using Natural Language Processing of Free-Text Radiology Reports to Identify Type 1 Modic Endplate Changes

Novel Telestroke Program Improves Thrombolysis for Acute Stroke Across 21 Hospitals of an Integrated Healthcare System

Prioritizing research topics: a comparison of crowdsourcing and patient registry

Genome-wide association study identifies a locus associated with rotator cuff injury

Associations of Race and Ethnicity with Patient-Reported Outcomes and Health Care Utilization among Older Adults Initiating a New Episode of Care for Back Pain

A Genetic Marker Associated with De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis

Two genetic loci associated with ankle injury

Study of Methods for Assessing Research Topic Elicitation and pRioritization (SMARTER): Study Protocol to Compare Qualitative Research Methods and Advance Patient Engagement in Research

Long term effects of repeated injections of local anesthetic with or without corticosteroid for lumbar spinal stenosis: a randomized trial

Two Genetic Loci associated with Medial Collateral Ligament Injury