Erin Bowles, MPH

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“At KPWHRI, we have access to extensive data on cancer care. I'm using the data to learn how to improve the experiences of cancer patients and their families.”

Erin Bowles, MPH

Director, Collaborative Science, Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute

Twitter: @ErinJBowles


 

Biography

Epidemiologist Erin Bowles, MPH, is looking at 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 Health Care Systems Cancer Research Network (CRN) — Erin has developed diverse expertise that includes reading mammograms for breast density and using administrative data to understand patterns of care in cancer treatment.

Her current work includes:

  • Collaborating on a multi-site CRN study led by an investigator at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to understand how obesity affects chemotherapy treatment dosing and risks of recurrence and toxicity in women with breast cancer
  • Helping investigators from Kaiser Permanente Northern California and the University of California (UC) San Francisco and UC Davis understand imaging trends in children and pregnant women, and subsequent risks of leukemia associated with ionizing radiation from imaging exams
  • Working with investigators from the NCI, Kaiser Permanente Colorado, and Kaiser Permanente Georgia to study how mammographic breast density, radiation treatment, and tissue biomarkers are associated with second cancers in women with previous breast cancer
  • Collaborating on several studies within the BCSC to understand how disparities and social determinants of health affect breast cancer screening, diagnosis, and surveillance
  • Helping investigators from the University of Wisconsin develop a model to predict thyroid cancer diagnosis and evaluate how health care utilization affects thyroid cancer detection and outcomes
  • Working with teams from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, University of Washington, and Multicare Health System to develop and validate questions about cancer screening for people eligible for breast, colorectal, cervical, and/or lung cancer screening for the National Health Interview Survey.

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 a manager of the Collaborative Science Division at KPWHRI, providing leadership, supervision, mentorship, and support to junior faculty.

Research interests and experience

  • Cancer

    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

  • Health Services & Economics

    Access to care; health disparities; health outcomes research; quality of life; measurement of change in health care systems; practice variation

  • Women's Health

    Menopause; hormone replacement therapy (HRT); breast cancer

  • Aging & Geriatrics

    Cognitive health and dementia; biostatistics; epidemiology; medication use; cancer

Recent publications

Abubakar M, Fan S, Bowles EA, Widemann L, Duggan MA, Pfeiffer RM, Falk RT, Lawrence S, Richert-Boe K, Glass AG, Kimes TM, Figueroa JD, Rohan TE, Gierach GL. Relation of quantitative histologic and radiologic breast tissue composition metrics with invasive breast cancer risk.  JNCI Cancer Spectr. 2021 Feb 6;5(3):pkab015. doi: 10.1093/jncics/pkab015. eCollection 2021.  PubMed

Lee JM, Ichikawa LE, Wernli KJ, Bowles E, Specht JM, Kerlikowske K, Miglioretti DL, Lowry KP, Tosteson ANA, Stout NK, Houssami N, Onega T, Buist DSM. Digital mammography and breast tomosynthesis performance in women with a personal history of breast cancer, 2007-2016. Radiology. 2021 Aug;300(2):290-300. doi: 10.1148/radiol.2021204581. Epub 2021 May 18. PubMed

Feigelson HS, Bodelon C, Powers JD, Curtis RE, Buist DSM, Veiga LHS, Aiello Bowles EJ, Berrington de Gonzalez A, Gierach GL. Body mass index and risk of second cancer among women with breast cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2021 Apr 5:djab053. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djab053. Online ahead of print. PubMed

Sprague BL, Lowry KP, Miglioretti DL, Alsheik N, Bowles EJA, Tosteson ANA, Rauscher G, Herschorn SD, Lee JM, Trentham-Dietz A, Weaver DL, Stout NK, Kerlikowske K. Changes in mammography utilization by women's characteristics during the first 5 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2021 Sep 4;113(9):1161-1167. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djab045. PubMed

Marlow EC, Ducore J, Kwan ML, Cheng SY, Bowles EJA, Greenlee RT, Pole JD, Rahm AK, Stout NK, Weinmann S, Smith-Bindman R, Miglioretti DL. Leukemia risk in a cohort of 3.9 million children with and without Down syndrome. J Pediatr. 2021 Mar 5:S0022-3476(21)00212-2. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2021.03.001. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed

Wernli KJ, Knerr S, Li T, Leppig K, Ehrlich K, Farrell D, Gao H, Bowles EA, Graham AL, Luta G, Jayasekera J, Mandelblatt JS, Schwartz MD, O’Neill SC. Effect of personalized breast cancer risk tool on chemoprevention and breast imaging: ENGAGED-2 trial. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2021 Jan 14;5(1):pkaa114. doi: 10.1093/jncics/pkaa114. eCollection 2021 Feb. PubMed

 

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