Melissa Anderson, MS
“My work is rewarding because we study a wide variety of scientific questions that address major public health priorities and our results have an impact.”
Melissa Anderson, MS
Principal Collaborative Biostatistician, Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute
Melissa.L.Anderson@kp.org
206-287-2647
Biography
Biostatistician Melissa Anderson, MS, has collaborated on a wide range of health care topics throughout her career, with an emphasis on preventive care. Her recent research has focused on cancer screening and cardiovascular health. Ms. Anderson worked with Beverly Green, MD, MPH, to determine whether a centralized system of stepped increases in support improves uptake and long-term adherence to colorectal cancer screening. Ms. Anderson and Dr. Green have also collaborated to answer important questions regarding cardiovascular health, including whether a patient’s cardiovascular risks can be defined using automated electronic health record data and if this method can identify high-risk patients. Other areas of interest are blood pressure measurement variability, and diagnostic accuracy of various blood pressure measurement protocols.
Ms. Anderson has experience with longitudinal observational studies and has considerable expertise in the design and analysis of randomized clinical trials. She was the lead analyst for recent randomized trials of behavioral interventions to (1) promote smoking cessation and oral health behaviors among smoking quitline callers, (2) decrease sedentary time among older adults with obesity, and (3) improve pain and function outcomes through group-based cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness-based stress reduction among patients with chronic back pain.
Ms. Anderson received her master’s degree in biostatistics at the University of Washington in 1996. Prior to joining Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in 2003, she worked at the Statistical Coordinating Center for the Cardiovascular Health Study, and the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.
Research Interests and Experience
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Biostatistics
Randomized trials, diagnostic test accuracy, longitudinal data analysis, missing data methods
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Behavior Change
Physical activity, oral health care, smoking cessation
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Cancer
Breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening
Cardiovascular Health
Cardiovascular risk assessment, blood pressure measurement
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Preventive Medicine
Adherence to preventive care recommendations
Recent publications
Green BB, Hansell LD, Hsu CW, Jones T, Luce C, Ralston JD, Munson SA, Davis B, Wright T, Anderson ML. Evaluation of an email blood pressure measurement outreach program. Am J Hypertens. 2025 Oct 15:hpaf206. doi: 10.1093/ajh/hpaf206 [Epub ahead of print] PubMed
Henrikson NB, Anderson ML, Dickerson J, Petrik AF, Figueroa Gray M, Ewing JJ, Garcia R, Keast E, King DA, Locher B, Scrol A, Ramaprasan A, Rivelli JS, Schneider JL, Banegas MP. Financial navigation for people newly diagnosed with cancer: Primary outcomes from the cancer financial experience randomized trial. JCO Oncol Pract. 2025 Oct 10:OP2500874. doi: 10.1200/OP-25-00874 [Epub ahead of print] PubMed
Tiro JA, Metcalfe S, Muthukrishnan M, Jose A, Hansen K, Lin J, Dorsey CN, Gao H, Lacey C, Anderson ML, Meenan RT, Green BB, Buist DSM, Sparks A, Winer RL. Promoting cervical cancer screening via a mailed HPV self-collection kit: Reactions from screeners and non-screeners. Patient Educ Couns. 2025 Oct 3;142:109374. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2025.109374 [Epub ahead of print] PubMed
Meenan RT, Lacey C, Buist DSM, Tiro JA, Lin J, Anderson ML, Green BB, Winer RL. Cost-effectiveness of HPV self-testing options for cervical cancer screening. JAMA Netw Open. 2025;8(10):e2534960. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.34960. PubMed
Wernli KJ, Anderson ML, Palazzo L, Luce C, Bezman N, Chin M, Gao H, Ralston JD, Rogers K, Su YR, Triplette M, Carter-Bawa L, Vasavada A, Jordan M, West M, Boler S, Green BB. Effectiveness of health communication intervention to improve knowledge on timeliness to return for annual lung cancer screening: The Larch Trial. Chest. 2025 Sep 10:S0012-3692(25)05173-6. doi: 10.1016/j.chest.2025.07.4111 [Epub ahead of print] PubMed
Research
Mailed HPV test kits are cost-effective for screening
Study provides economic rationale for health systems to adopt mailed kits for cervical cancer screening.
Research
Helping first-time screeners know when to return
Well-timed outreach in print and video can boost awareness of repeat screening for lung cancer, study finds.
New findings
There’s no place like home … to track blood pressure
Research led by KPWHRI’s Beverly Green, MD, MPH, finds that patients prefer at-home monitoring of blood pressure.
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