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:
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.
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
Buist DS, Anderson ML, Reed SD, Aiello Bowles EJ, Fitzgibbons ED, Gandara JC, Seger D, Newton KM. Short-term hormone therapy suspension and mammography recall: a randomized trial. Ann Intern Med. 2009;150(11):752-65. PubMed
Reed SD, Buist DS, Anderson ML, Aiello Bowles EJ, Fitzgibbons D, Seger D, Newton KM. Short-term (1-2 mo) hormone therapy cessation before mammography. Menopause. 2009;16(6):1125-31. PubMed
Carney PA, Kettler M, Cook AJ, Geller BM, Karliner L, Miglioretti DL, Bowles EA, Buist DS, Gallagher TH, Elmore JG. An assessment of the likelihood, frequency, and content of verbal communication between radiologists and women receiving screening and diagnostic mammography. Acad Radiol. 2009;16(9):1056-63. Epub 2009 May 12. PubMed
McTiernan A, Wang CY, Sorensen B, Xiao L, Buist DS, Aiello Bowles EJ, White E, Rossing MA, Potter J, Urban N. No effect of aspirin on mammographic density in a randomized controlled clinical trial. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2009;18(5):1524-30. PubMed
Abraham L, Geller BM, Yankaskas BC, Bowles EJ, Karliner LS, Taplin SH, Miglioretti DL. Accuracy of self-reported breast cancer among women undergoing mammography. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2009;118(3):583-92. Epub 2009 Mar 20. PubMed
Yong M, Atkinson C, Newton KM, Aiello Bowles EJ, Stanczyk FZ, Westerlind KC, Holt VL, Schwartz SM, Leisenring WM, Lampe JW. Associations between endogenous sex hormone levels and mammographic and bone densities in premenopausal women. Cancer Causes Control. 2009;20(7):1039-53. Epub 2009 Mar 12. 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.
How KPWHRI is contributing to better cancer screening and better outcomes for patients.
Cell by cell, scientists are building a high-resolution map of brain changes in Alzheimer’s disease.