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
Bhimani J, Wang P, Gallagher GB, O'Connell K, Blinder V, Burganowski R, Ergas IJ, Griggs JJ, Heon N, Kolevska T, Kotsurovskyy Y, Kroenke CH, Laurent CA, Liu R, Nakata KG, Persaud S, Roh JM, Tabatabai S, Valice E, Bandera EV, Bowles EJA, Kushi LH, Kantor ED. Patient factors and modifications to intended chemotherapy for women with stages I-IIIA breast cancer. Int J Cancer. 2025 Oct 1;157(7):1342-1353. doi: 10.1002/ijc.35494. Epub 2025 Jun 2. PubMed
Stewart C, Alber S, Mahendra M, Kofler C, Tran T, Domal S, Bowles EJA, Weinmann S, Greenlee RT, Stout NK, Pequeno P, Moy LM, Duncan JR, Pole JD, Bolch WE, Kwan ML, Miglioretti DL, Smith-Bindman R. Quantifying and contextualizing radiation doses in common pediatric medical imaging examinations. J Pediatr Clin Pract. 2025 Jul 23;17:200166. doi: 10.1016/j.jpedcp.2025.200166. eCollection 2025 Sep. PubMed
Bhimani J, Wang P, Gallagher GB, O'Connell K, Persaud S, Blinder VS, Burganowski R, Ergas IJ, Griggs JJ, Heon N, Kolevska T, Kotsurovskyy Y, Kroenke CH, Laurent CA, Liu R, Nakata KG, Roh JM, Tabatabai S, Valice E, Bandera EV, Aiello Bowles EJ, Kushi LH, Kantor ED. Patient characteristics associated with conventional schedule vs. dose dense chemotherapy in women with stage I-IIIA breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2025 Aug;213(1):115-126. doi: 10.1007/s10549-025-07764-w. Epub 2025 Jul 6. PubMed
Bowles EJA, Gao H, Fleckenstein LE, Bravo P, Nash MG, Comstock B, Neslund-Dudas C, Mou J, Kessler LG. Accuracy of self-reported exam indications for breast cancer screening. JNCI Cancer Spectr. 2025 May 5:pkaf046. doi: 10.1093/jncics/pkaf046. Online ahead of print. PubMed
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
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
New research finds that 10% of pediatric blood and bone marrow cancers may have stemmed from radiation exposure.
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.