Paola Gilsanz, ScD

People

Kaiser Permanente Division of Research
2000 Broadway
Oakland, CA 94612

(510) 891-3482 (phone)
paola.gilsanz@kp.org

Paola Gilsanz, ScD, is a Staff Scientist at the Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California. Dr. Gilsanz received her BA in Community Health from Brown University, her MPH in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from the University of California, Berkeley, and doctorate in Social Epidemiology from Harvard University. Currently, she is working on the Kaiser Healthy Aging and Diverse Life Experience Study (KHANDLE), the Life After 90 Study, the Study of Healthy Aging in African Americans (STAR), and the Study of Longevity in Diabetes (SOLID). Her research interests include examining risk factors for dementia across the lifecourse and identifying modifiable risk factors contributing to health disparities across sexes and racial and ethnic groups.

Current Position(s):

Staff Scientist, Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California

Section Affiliations:

Behavioral Health and Aging

Primary Research Interests:

Dementia and cognitive function
Social epidemiology and life course models
Health disparities
Causal inference

Studies

Glycemic Control and Dementia: The Role of Pharmacotherapy and Vascular Complications

This study examines social and biological drivers of sex disparities in dementia and cognition decline using the following 3 data sources: 1) the Multiphasic Health Checkup (MHC), which includes prospectively collected blood pressure and body mass index measurements since 1964; 2) the Kaiser Healthy Aging and Diverse Life Experience (KHANDLE) study, which includes cognitive measures on 1,712 MHC participants; and 3) Kaiser Permanente Northern California electronic medical records, which includes diagnoses of dementia and late-life vascular risk. Analyses will examine the role of social factors, such as educational and occupational complexity, and biological factors, such as cumulative exposure to vascular and metabolic risk factors, in sex inequities in dementia risk and cognitive decline.
Investigator: Gilsanz, Paola
Funder:

Reducing Treatment Risk in Older Patients with Diabetes: Comparative Effectiveness of Academic Detailing with and without Pre-Visit Patient Preparation

This study will compare the effect of two proven strategies (academic detailing alone versus academic detailing along with patient pre-visit preparation) on insulin de-prescribing rates among older patients with type 2 diabetes at high risk for insulin-related hypoglycemia. It will also compare the relative impact of these two strategies on validated measures of patient-reported diabetes distress, decisional confidence, and perceived quality of care. The study will also compare the content and quality of patient-provider conversations in a subset of visits from both study arms through analysis of visit audio recordings.
Investigator: Gilsanz, Paola; Grant, Richard
Funder: Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute

Contributions of Educational Quality and Occupational Complexity on Racial and Ethnic Inequities in Brain Health and Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementia

This study utilizes a lifecourse approach to evaluate the roles of education quality and occupational complexity on dementia risk and cognitive decline and to examine if patterns of educational quality and occupational complexity across the lifecourse drive racial and ethnic disparities present in dementia and late-life brain health. This study leverages information from the Kaiser Healthy Aging and Diverse Life Experiences (KHANDLE) study, which follows a diverse group of long-term members of Kaiser Permanente Northern California to evaluate the role of lifecourse health on cognitive decline, dementia, and brain imaging markers.
Investigator: Gilsanz, Paola
Funder: National Institute on Aging

Highlighted Publications

The Bidirectional Association Between Depression and Severe Hypoglycemic and Hyperglycemic Events in Type 1 Diabetes

Author(s): Gilsanz P; Karter AJ; Beeri MS; Quesenberry CP; Whitmer RA

Diabetes Care. 2017 Dec 18.

Current Position(s):

Section Affiliations:

Primary Research Interests:

Studies

Glycemic Control and Dementia: The Role of Pharmacotherapy and Vascular Complications

Reducing Treatment Risk in Older Patients with Diabetes: Comparative Effectiveness of Academic Detailing with and without Pre-Visit Patient Preparation

Contributions of Educational Quality and Occupational Complexity on Racial and Ethnic Inequities in Brain Health and Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementia

Highlighted Publications

The Bidirectional Association Between Depression and Severe Hypoglycemic and Hyperglycemic Events in Type 1 Diabetes

Female sex, early-onset hypertension, and risk of dementia

Association Between Birth in a High Stroke Mortality State, Race, and Risk of Dementia

Publications

Severe Hypoglycemia and Cognitive Function in Older Adults With Type 1 Diabetes: The Study of Longevity in Diabetes (SOLID)

Locus of Control and Cognition in Older Adults With Type I Diabetes: Evidence For Sex Differences From the Study of Longevity in Diabetes (SOLID)

Sleep Quality and Cognitive Function in Type 1 Diabetes: Findings From the Study of Longevity in Diabetes (SOLID)

Initiation of antidepressant medication and risk of incident stroke: using the Adult Changes in Thought cohort to address time-varying confounding

Stressors in Midlife and Risk of Dementia: The Role of Race and Education

Reproductive period and risk of dementia in a diverse cohort of health care members

Posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and television viewing patterns in the Nurses' Health Study II: A longitudinal analysis

Is it possible to overcome the 'long arm' of childhood socioeconomic disadvantage through upward socioeconomic mobility?

Incidence of dementia after age 90 in a multiracial cohort

Traumatic brain injury associated with dementia risk among people with type 1 diabetes

Long-term Glycemic Control and Dementia Risk in Type 1 Diabetes

Birth in High Infant Mortality States and Dementia Risk in a Cohort of Elderly African American and White Health Care Members

Depression in type 1 diabetes and risk of dementia

Early Midlife Pulmonary Function and Dementia Risk

Diabetic Retinopathy and Dementia in Type 1 Diabetes

The Bidirectional Association Between Depression and Severe Hypoglycemic and Hyperglycemic Events in Type 1 Diabetes

Posttraumatic stress disorder onset and inflammatory and endothelial function biomarkers in women

Validation of a theoretically motivated approach to measuring childhood socioeconomic circumstances in the Health and Retirement Study

Female sex, early-onset hypertension, and risk of dementia

Alzheimer's disease genetic risk variants beyondAPOEε4 predict mortality

Association Between Birth in a High Stroke Mortality State, Race, and Risk of Dementia

Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Associations of Chronic Posttraumatic Stress Disorder With Inflammatory and Endothelial Function Markers in Women

Post-traumatic stress disorder and risk of dementia among members of a health care delivery system

Posttraumatic stress disorder and accelerated aging: PTSD and leukocyte telomere length in a sample of civilian women

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and 20-Year Physical Activity Trends Among Women

Cumulative receipt of an anti-poverty tax credit for families did not impact tobacco smoking among parents

Neighborhood Differences in Post-Stroke Mortality

Post-traumatic stress disorder symptom duration and remission in relation to cardiovascular disease risk among a large cohort of women

Post-traumatic stress disorder and cardiometabolic disease: improving causal inference to inform practice

Changes in Depressive Symptoms and Subsequent Risk of Stroke in the Cardiovascular Health Study

Post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms and risk of hypertension over 22 years in a large cohort of younger and middle-aged women

Childhood Psychological Distress as a Mediator in the Relationship Between Early-Life Social Disadvantage and Adult Cardiometabolic Risk: Evidence From the 1958 British Birth Cohort

Comparing Variability, Severity, and Persistence of Depressive Symptoms as Predictors of Future Stroke Risk

Associations of Trauma Exposure and Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms With Venous Thromboembolism Over 22 Years in Women

Neighborhood-level social processes and substantiated cases of child maltreatment

​Dysregulated Blood Pressure: Can Regulating Emotions Help?

Psychological Distress Across the Life Course and Cardiometabolic Risk: Findings From the 1958 British Birth Cohort Study

Body mass index and cognitive function: the potential for reverse causation

Changes in Depressive Symptoms and Incidence of First Stroke Among Middle-Aged and Older US Adults

​Early life predictors of atrial fibrillation-related mortality: evidence from the health and retirement study

Does the association between depressive symptoms and cardiovascular mortality risk vary by race? Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study

Adiposity predicts carotid intima-media thickness in healthy children and adolescents

Evaluating parent satisfaction of school nursing services

Dysregulated Blood Pressure: Can Regulating Emotions Help?

Early life predictors of atrial fibrillation-related mortality: evidence from the health and retirement study