Weiwei Zhu, MS

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“I have a longstanding interest in using biostatistics to advance medical research. Working at KPWHRI gives me a great opportunity to contribute to challenging projects with rich, relevant data and make a national impact on health care systems.”

Weiwei Zhu, MS

Senior Collaborative Biostatistician, Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute

Weiwei.Zhu@kp.org
206-442-5215

Biography

Weiwei Zhu, MS, joined Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute's Biostatistics Unit in 2009. She works closely with Affiliate Investigator Diana Miglioretti, PhD, to design studies, manage data, and conduct statistical analyses for the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium (BCSC) — the National Cancer Institute’s 7-site network of mammography researchers. She has been a key member of the BCSC Statistical Coordinating Center for over 10 years. Her work studying breast screening benefits and risks played an essential role in an American Cancer Society screening guideline change in 2015.

Weiwei’s current other studies include testing the effects of sitting reduction on cardiometabolic health outcomes through a large randomized trial in older adults, studying a sedentary behavior reduction and physical activity promotion intervention for the older Latino/Hispanic community, and examining the association of the 24-hour activity cycle with cognition and physical function in older adults with Senior Investigator Dori Rosenberg, PhD, MPH. Weiwei has also collaborated on research to quantify the serious risks of misuse, abuse, and addiction associated with long-term opioid use. This multi-site study used electronic health record data and survey interviews to provide estimates of long-term opioid use risks in 2 cohorts.

After beginning her medical research career as an intern at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in 2007, Weiwei served as a biostatistician at the Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute in Florida.

Research interests and experience

Recent publications

Fenton JJ, Zhu W, Balch S, Smith-Bindman R, Lindfors K, Hubbard R. External validation of Medicare claims codes for digital mammography and computer-aided detection. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2012 Aug;21(8):1344-7. Epub 2012 Jun 13. PubMed

Mahajan K, Coppola D, Chen YA, Zhu W, Lawrence HR, Lawrence NJ, Mahajan NP. Ack1 tyrosine kinase activation correlates with pancreatic cancer progression. Am J Pathol. 2012 Apr;180(4):1386-93. doi: 10.1016/j.ajpath.2011.12.028. Epub 2012 Feb 7. PubMed

Braithwaite D, Zhu W, Hubbard R, O'Meara ES, Miglioretti DL, Geller B, Dittus K, Wernli K, Moore D, Kerlikowske K, for the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium. Benefits and harms of screening mammography frequency by age and comorbidity score.  Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2012;21(3):565. Epub 2012 Feb 15. PubMed

Finkelstein S, Trotti A, Rao N, Reintgen D, Cruse W, Feun L, Sondak V, Yu D, Zhu W, Gwede C, DeConti R. The Florida Melanoma Trial I: a prospective multicenter phase I/II trial of postoperative hypofractionated adjuvant radiotherapy with concurrent interferon-alfa-2b in the treatment of advanced stage III melanoma with long-term toxicity follow-up. ISRN Immunology. 2012;2012:[10 p.]. doi:10.5402/2012/324235.

Hubbard RA, Kerlikowske K, Flowers CI, Yankaskas BC, Zhu W, Miglioretti DL. Cumulative probability of false-positive recall or biopsy recommendation after 10 years of screening mammography: a cohort study.  Ann Intern Med. 2011;155(8):481-92. PubMed

 

Research

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Roundup of 3 recent studies on breast cancer screening

New research spotlights overdiagnosis, MRI before surgery, and a new way of predicting breast cancer risk

Cancer screening

Breast density scans

Breast density is a risk factor for older women, too

Findings in JAMA Network Open could help guide decision-making about breast cancer screening for women 75 and older.

Research

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Phone therapy for insomnia shown to improve sleep

A study among KP members with sleep problems and osteoarthritis shows promise for overcoming obstacles to treatment.