Epidemiologist Erin Bowles, MPH, is looking at breast cancer screening and treatment from many different perspectives. Her research brings new insight into cancer risk factors, diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship, while helping improve cancer care for patients and families.
Erin received an R50 mid-career research award from the National Cancer Institute (NCI). This award is given to cancer researchers who have demonstrated successes and contributions to cancer research as a non-principal investigator. As a key member of 2 large cancer collaborations — the NCI's Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium and the Kaiser Permanente Breast Cancer Survivors Cohort — Erin has developed diverse expertise that includes reading mammograms for breast density and using administrative data to understand patterns of breast cancer screening and cancer treatment.
Her current work includes:
Erin’s experience working with large observational cohorts and collaborations with numerous study teams over the past 20+ years has provided her with expertise in data collection and quality control for many subject areas. She is also Director of the Collaborative Science Division at KPWHRI, providing leadership, supervision, mentorship, and support to collaborative scientists with a range of skills and expertise. She is passionate about providing long-term career paths for masters- and PhD-level scientists who don’t want to become independent investigators.
Breast cancer; colorectal cancer; multiple myeloma; thyroid cancer; pancreatic cancer; biostatistics; epidemiology; mammography; mammographic breast density; cancer treatment; cancer screening and surveillance; automated data collection; quality of care; medication use; care coordination; administrative data
Access to care; health disparities; health outcomes research; quality of life; measurement of change in health care systems; practice variation
Menopause; hormone replacement therapy (HRT); breast cancer
Cognitive health and dementia; biostatistics; epidemiology; medication use; cancer
Pharmacoepidemiology; observational study research methods; chemotherapy; radiation exposure
Henderson LM, Zhu W, Onega T, Kerlikowske K, Miglioretti DL, Bowles EJA, Sprague BL, Weaver DL, Tosteson ScD ANA, Lee CI. Diagnostic management pathways for workup of abnormal screening with digital mammography versus digital breast tomosynthesis. J Am Coll Radiol. 2025 Apr 9:S1546-1440(25)00207-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jacr.2025.04.008. Online ahead of print. PubMed
Zhu W, Miglioretti DL, Onega T, Henderson LM, Rauscher GH, Kerlikowske K, Sprague BL, Bowles EJA, O'Meara ES, Tosteson ANA, diFlorio-Alexander RM, Hubbard RA, Lee JM, Lee CI. Endocrine therapy and risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality in postmenopausal breast cancer survivors. Radiology. 2025 Feb;314(2):e241673. doi: 10.1148/radiol.241673. PubMed
Wang P, O’Connell K, Bhimani J, Blinder V, Burganowski R, Ergas IJ, Gallagher GB, Griggs JJ, Heon N, Kolevska T, Kotsurovskyy Y, Kroenke CH, Laurent CA, Liu R, Nakata KG, Persaud S, Rivera DR, Roh JM, Tabatabai S, Valice E, Bandera EV, Kushi LH, Aiello Bowles EJ, Kantor ED. A methodologic approach to defining comorbidities in a cohort of cancer patients: An example in the Optimal Breast Cancer Chemotherapy Dosing Study. JCO Clin Cancer Inform. 2025 Feb:9:e2400231. doi: 10.1200/CCI-24-00231. Epub 2025 Feb 14. PubMed
Lawson MB, Zhu W, Miglioretti DL, Onega T, Henderson LM, Rauscher GH, Kerlikowske K, Sprague BL, Bowles EJA, O'Meara ES, Tosteson ANA, diFlorio-Alexander RM, Hubbard RA, Lee JM, Lee CI. Disparities in standard-of-care, advanced, and same-day diagnostic services among patients with abnormal screening mammography. Radiology. 2025 Feb;314(2):e241673. doi: 10.1148/radiol.241673. PubMed
Fernandes-Taylor S, Bowles EJA, Venkatesh M, Doud R, Krebsbach C, Arroyo N, Hanlon B, Chen AY, Davies L, Francis DO. Differential ultrasound rates mirror sex disparities in thyroid cancer. Thyroid. 2024 Nov 28. doi: 10.1089/thy.2024.0344. Online ahead of print. PubMed
Foster VM, Trentham-Dietz A, Stout NK, Lee CI, Ichikawa LE, Eavey J, Henderson L, Miglioretti DL, Tosteson ANA, Bowles EA, Kerlikowske K, Sprague BL. Supplemental breast cancer screening after negative mammography in U.S. women with dense breasts. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2024 Oct 30:djae272. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djae272. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
New study will develop risk models to improve clinical guidelines and practice.
Kaiser Permanente Washington has been part of the national Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium since 1994. Learn about the Kaiser Permanente Washington Breast Cancer Surveillance Registry here.
The division contributes to research across the institute with methodological and subject matter expertise.
MedPage Today, March 4, 2025
How KPWHRI is contributing to better cancer screening and better outcomes for patients.