Melissa Anderson, MS
“My work is rewarding because we study a wide variety of scientific questions that address major public health priorities and our results have an impact.”
Melissa Anderson, MS
Principal Collaborative Biostatistician, Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute
Melissa.L.Anderson@kp.org
206-287-2647
Biography
Biostatistician Melissa Anderson, MS, has collaborated on a wide range of health care topics throughout her career, with an emphasis on preventive care. Her recent research has focused on cancer screening and cardiovascular health. Ms. Anderson worked with Beverly Green, MD, MPH, to determine whether a centralized system of stepped increases in support improves uptake and long-term adherence to colorectal cancer screening. Ms. Anderson and Dr. Green have also collaborated to answer important questions regarding cardiovascular health, including whether a patient’s cardiovascular risks can be defined using automated electronic health record data and if this method can identify high-risk patients. Other areas of interest are blood pressure measurement variability, and diagnostic accuracy of various blood pressure measurement protocols.
Ms. Anderson has experience with longitudinal observational studies and has considerable expertise in the design and analysis of randomized clinical trials. She was the lead analyst for recent randomized trials of behavioral interventions to (1) promote smoking cessation and oral health behaviors among smoking quitline callers, (2) decrease sedentary time among older adults with obesity, and (3) improve pain and function outcomes through group-based cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness-based stress reduction among patients with chronic back pain.
Ms. Anderson received her master’s degree in biostatistics at the University of Washington in 1996. Prior to joining Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in 2003, she worked at the Statistical Coordinating Center for the Cardiovascular Health Study, and the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.
Research Interests and Experience
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Biostatistics
Randomized trials, diagnostic test accuracy, longitudinal data analysis, missing data methods
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Behavior Change
Physical activity, oral health care, smoking cessation
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Cancer
Breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening
Cardiovascular Health
Cardiovascular risk assessment, blood pressure measurement
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Preventive Medicine
Adherence to preventive care recommendations
Recent publications
Wernli KJ, Anderson ML, Palazzo L, Luce C, Bezman N, Chin M, Gao H, Ralston JD, Rogers K, Su YR, Triplette M, Carter-Bawa L, Vasavada A, Jordan M, West M, Boler S, Green BB Effectiveness of health communication intervention to improve knowledge on timeliness to return for annual lung cancer screening: The Larch Trial 2025 Sep 10 doi: 10.1016/j.chest.2025.07.4111. Epub 2025-09-10. PubMed
Tiro JA, Muthukrishnan M, Metcalfe S, Hansen K, Lin J, Dorsey CN, Gao H, Lacey C, Anderson ML, Meenan RT, Green BB, Sparks A, Winer RL Improving Communication and Management Following a Positive Home HPV Self-Sampling Result: Comparing Intervention Strategies Between the HOME and STEP Trials 2025 Aug 25;6(1):771-781. doi: 10.1177/26884844251371093. Epub 2025-08-25. PubMed
Henrikson NB, Scrol A, Zepp JM, Anderson ML, Blasi PR, Ewing JJ, Grafton J, Ralston JD, Fullerton SM, Leppig KA Health system-led early consent and direct contact of at-risk relatives: Pilot study results 2025 Apr 3;28(1):150-162. doi: 10.1159/000545404. Epub 2025-04-03. PubMed
Sheridan L, Pocobelli G, Anderson M, Li CI, Kruse GR, Tiro JA, Kamineni A Cervical cancer screening rates in females living with HIV at three healthcare settings in the United States, 2010-2019 2025 Mar;36(3):275-284. doi: 10.1007/s10552-024-01937-6. Epub 2024-11-13. PubMed
Hansell LD, Hsu CW, Munson SA, Margolis KL, Thompson MJ, Ehrlich KJ, Hall YN, Anderson ML, Evers SC, Marcus-Smith MS, McClure JB, Green BB Patient experiences with blood pressure measurement methods for hypertension diagnosis: Qualitative findings from the BP-CHECK study 2024 Oct 14;37(11):868-875. doi: 10.1093/ajh/hpae088. Epub 2024-07-12. PubMed
Research
Mailed HPV test kits are cost-effective for screening
Study provides economic rationale for health systems to adopt mailed kits for cervical cancer screening.
Research
Helping first-time screeners know when to return
Well-timed outreach in print and video can boost awareness of repeat screening for lung cancer, study finds.
New findings
There’s no place like home … to track blood pressure
Research led by KPWHRI’s Beverly Green, MD, MPH, finds that patients prefer at-home monitoring of blood pressure.
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