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

Haas CB, Bowles EJA, Lee JM, Specht J, Buist DSM. Accuracy of tumor registry versus pharmacy dispensings for breast cancer adjuvant endocrine therapy. Cancer Causes Control. 2022 Jul 7. doi: 10.1007/s10552-022-01603-9. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed

Sarma EA, Thompson MJ, Bowles EJA, Burnett-Hartman AN, Hubbard RA, Yu O, Chubak J. Patient and tumour characteristics of screening-age adults diagnosed with screen-detected versus symptomatic colon cancer. Colorectal Dis. 2022 Jun 23. doi: 10.1111/codi.16232. PubMed

Nyante SJ, Abraham L, Aiello Bowles EJ, Lee CI, Kerlikowske K, Miglioretti DL, Sprague BL, Henderson LM. Diagnostic mammography performance across racial and ethnic groups in a national network of community-based breast imaging facilities. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2022 Jun 17:OF1-OF10. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-21-1379. Online ahead of print. PubMed

Ramin C, Gierach GL, Abubakar M, Veiga LHS, Vo JB, Curtis RE, Bowles EJ, Feigelson HS, Buist DSM, de Gonzalez AB, Bodelon C. The influence of treatment on hormone receptor subgroups and breast cancer-specific mortality within US integrated healthcare systems. Cancer Causes Control. 2022 Jul;33(7):1019-1023. doi: 10.1007/s10552-022-01589-4. Epub 2022 May 18. PubMed

Abubakar M, Mullooly M, Nyante S, Pfeiffer RM, Aiello Bowles EJ, Cora R, Bodelon C, Butler E, Butcher D, Sternberg L, Troester MA, Weinmann S, Sherman M, Glass AG, de Gonzalez AB, Gierach GL. Mammographic density decline, tamoxifen response, and prognosis by molecular characteristics of estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer. JNCI Cancer Spectr. 2022 May 2;6(3):pkac028. doi: 10.1093/jncics/pkac028. PubMed

Bowles EJA, Ramin C, Buist DSM, Feigelson HS, Weinmann S, Veiga LHS, Bodelon C, Curtis RE, Vo JB, Berrington de Gonzalez A, Gierach GL. Endocrine therapy initiation among women with stage I-III invasive, hormone receptor-positive breast cancer from 2001-2016. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2022 May;193(1):203-216. doi: 10.1007/s10549-022-06561-z. Epub 2022 Mar 11. PubMed

 

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