Biography

Epidemiologist Erin Bowles, MPH, is looking at cancer and aging from many different perspectives. Her research brings new insight into breast cancer risk factors, treatment, and survivorship, while helping improve cancer care for patients and families.

Ms. Bowles 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 researcher as a non-principal investigator. As a key member of two large cancer collaborations—the NCI's Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium and the Health Care Systems Cancer Research Network (CRN)—Ms. Bowles 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:

• 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; and
• working with Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI) investigator Diana Buist, PhD, and investigators from the NCI and Kaiser Permanente Colorado to study how mammographic breast density and radiation treatment are associated with second cancers in women with previous breast cancer.

Ms. Bowles' experience working with large cancer cohorts has provided her with expertise in data collection and management for other subject areas. She is a co-investigator on the Adult Changes in Thought study team, and oversees their living laboratory and data sharing for aging research, along with an annual research symposium. Finally, she is a member of the Kaiser Permanente Research Affiliates Evidence-based Practice Center and has participated in systematic evidence reviews for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.