Diana S.M. Buist, PhD, MPH
“My research goal is to gather solid evidence and to use it to improve patient care by increasing benefits and decreasing harms.”
Diana S.M. Buist, PhD, MPH
Senior Investigator and Director of Research and Strategic Partnerships, Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute
206-287-2931
Biography
Diana Buist, PhD, MPH, is an epidemiologist and health services researcher with extensive experience conducting comparative effectiveness research. Her work focuses on reducing harms and increasing benefits for patients in the area of cancer screening and outcomes spanning across patient, provider, and system factors.
Dr. Buist has an extensive record of practical research that has led to many efforts to improve care, including the development and refinement of national breast cancer screening guidelines and their implementation within Kaiser Permanente Washington. She has been conducting research within Kaiser Permanente Washington for more than 20 years and is a strong believer in patient-centered care and the important role patients play in improving the value and quality of health care. Dr. Buist is involved in several studies aimed at providing high-value health care that provides patients and their providers with information on the expected benefits and harms of cancer screening and treatment strategies.
Dr. Buist also has a long history collaborating with external researchers, including helping lead two large national research consortia focused on improving cancer screening and outcomes: the National Cancer Institute’s Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium and the Cancer Research Network of the Health Care Systems Research Network. Her extensive experience working with diverse data from these consortia in longitudinal studies and randomized trials in clinical systems puts Dr. Buist in a unique position to examine screening, care, and outcomes in health systems across the country.
As Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI) Director of Research and Strategic Partnerships, Dr. Buist works with other Kaiser Permanente regions, our local academic partners, and other external collaborators to build enduring strategic partnerships to enhance KPWHRI’s mission, align with KPWHRI faculty research priorities, and capitalize on our unique strengths in ways that are consistent with our mission.
Dr. Buist contributes to a variety of other projects at KPWHRI, including:
- conducting a pragmatic clinical trial of home testing for human papilloma virus, or HPV, among women overdue for cervical cancer screening
- optimizing long-term outcomes among women with a personal history of breast cancer through studying second breast events and second cancers associated with initial breast cancer, and investigating radiation therapy, breast density, tumor biology, and surveillance strategies for these women
- identifying screening strategies that detect breast cancer early, minimize harms, and reach diverse communities
- understanding the shared decision-making process for lung cancer screening from the patient and provider perspectives to help inform individuals about the harms and benefits of undergoing screening
- investigating how artificial intelligence can be used in cancer imaging for risk prediction and/or early detection
- evaluating the harms and benefits of different work-up intensities for incidentally detected lung nodules
- training individuals in how to conduct learning health system research.
Dr. Buist is also an affiliate professor in the Departments of Epidemiology and Health Services at the University of Washington School of Public Health and an affiliate member at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. She enjoys sharing her expertise by mentoring junior faculty and PhD and MPH candidates and teaching courses.
RESEARCH INTERESTS AND EXPERIENCE
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Cancer
Cancer screening and prevention; outreach and primary care prevention; comparative effectiveness; cost transparency; surveillance; secondary prevention; breast cancer treatment; breast cancer screening; outcomes following cancer diagnosis; cancer survivorship; provider variability in care
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Preventive Medicine
Cancer prevention and control; quality of care; preventive care; high-value care; consumer engagement in preventive medicine; systematic reviews
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Women's Health
Cancer prevention and control
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Health Services & Economics
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Learning Health Systems
Recent publications
Farjah F, Monsell SE, Gould MK, Smith-Bindman R, Banegas MP, Heagerty PJ, Keast EM, Ramaprasan A, Schoen K, Brewer EG, Greenlee RT, Buist DSM. Association of the intensity of diagnostic evaluation with outcomes in incidentally detected lung nodules. JAMA Intern Med. 2021 Jan 19. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.8250. Online ahead of print. PubMed
Malone C, Buist DSM, Tiro J, Barlow W, Gao H, Lin J, Winer RL. Out of reach? correlates of cervical cancer underscreening in women with varying levels of healthcare interactions in a United States integrated delivery system. Prev Med. 2020 Dec 31:106410. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2020.106410. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Kerlikowske K, Bissell MCS, Sprague BL, Buist DSM, Henderson LM, Lee JM, Miglioretti DL. Advanced breast cancer definitions by staging system examined in the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2020 Nov 10:djaa176. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djaa176. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Trabert B, Bauer DC, Buist DSM, Cauley JA, Falk RT, Geczik AM, Gierach GL, Hada M, Hue TF, Lacey JV Jr, LaCroix AZ, Tice JA, Xu X, Dallal CM, Brinton LA. Association of circulating progesterone with breast cancer risk among postmenopausal women. JAMA Netw Open. 2020 Apr 1;3(4):e203645. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.3645. PubMed
Schaffter T, Buist DSM, Lee CI, Nikulin Y, Ribli D, Guan Y, Lotter W, Jie Z, Du H, Wang S, Feng J, Feng M, Kim HE, Albiol F, Albiol A, Morrell S, Wojna Z, Ahsen ME, Asif U, Jimeno Yepes A, Yohanandan S, Rabinovici-Cohen S, Yi D, Hoff B, Yu T, Chaibub Neto E, Rubin DL, Lindholm P, Margolies LR, McBride RB, Rothstein JH, Sieh W, Ben-Ari R, Harrer S, Trister A, Friend S, Norman T, Sahiner B, Strand F, Guinney J, Stolovitzky G; and the DM DREAM Consortium, Mackey L, Cahoon J, Shen L, Sohn JH, Trivedi H, Shen Y, Buturovic L, Pereira JC, Cardoso JS, Castro E, Kalleberg KT, Pelka O, Nedjar I, Geras KJ, Nensa F, Goan E, Koitka S, Caballero L, Cox DD, Krishnaswamy P, Pandey G, Friedrich CM, Perrin D, Fookes C, Shi B, Cardoso Negrie G, Kawczynski M, Cho K, Khoo CS, Lo JY, Sorensen AG, Jung H. Evaluation of combined artificial intelligence and radiologist assessment to interpret screening mammograms. JAMA Netw Open. 2020 Mar 2;3(3):e200265. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.0265. PubMed
Malone C, Barnabas RV, Buist DSM, Tiro JA, Winer RL. Cost-effectiveness studies of HPV self-sampling: a systematic review. Prev Med. 2020 Jan 3:105953. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2019.105953. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Schifferdecker KE, Tosteson ANA, Kaplan C, Kerlikowske K, Buist DSM, Henderson LM, Johnson D, Jaworski J, Jackson-Nefertiti G, Ehrlich K, Marsh MW, Vu L, Onega T, Wernli KJ. Knowledge and perception of breast density, screening mammography, and supplemental screening: in search of "informed". J Gen Intern Med. 2019 Dec 2. pii: 10.1007/s11606-019-05560-z. doi: 10.1007/s11606-019-05560-z. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Eavey J, Ramaprasan A, Abraham L, Buist DS. Comorbidity index score increases due to coding artifacts. Epidemiology. 2019 Nov 20. doi: 10.1097/EDE.0000000000001142. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Malone C, Tiro JA, Buist DS, Beatty T, Lin J, Kimbel K, Gao H, Thayer C, Miglioretti DL, Winer RL. Reactions of women underscreened for cervical cancer who received unsolicited human papillomavirus self-sampling kits. J Med Screen. 2019 Nov 20:969141319885994. doi: 10.1177/0969141319885994. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Winer RL, Lin J, Tiro JA, Miglioretti DL, Beatty T, Gao H, Kimbel K, Thayer C, Buist DSM. Effect of mailed human papillomavirus test kits vs usual care reminders on cervical cancer screening uptake, precancer detection, and treatment: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2019;2(11):e1914729. Epub 2019/11/07. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.14729. PubMed
Healthy Findings Blog
Cancer screening in the time of COVID-19
Dr. Diana Buist reflects on the challenges of providing screening during a pandemic — and finds reason for optimism.
news
CATALyST Program selects 2 new K12 Scholars
The early-career scientists will receive 3 years of intensive training in Learning Health System research.
news
CATALyST adds scholar positions for learning health systems research
Admissions open for two new trainees as current scholars advance their projects.
cancer screening
Mailing home HPV test may offer alternative to Pap screen
Dr. Diana Buist and team reflect on HOME trial showing 50 percent screening boost in underscreened women.
Breast Cancer Surveillance
Kaiser Permanente Washington Breast Cancer Surveillance Registry
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.
birnbaum award
HOME Trial Team wins 2019 Birnbaum Award
Interdisciplinary group shows that home-based HPV tests can boost cervical cancer screening for women at high risk.
KPWHRI In the Media
KPWHRI’s Diana Buist, PhD, quoted on one alternative to screening visits
At-home cancer screening could thrive after the pandemic
Reuters Health, published by Medscape, Nov. 24, 2020
