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
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 Nov 1;2(11):e1914729. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.14729. PubMed
Sun L, Brentnall A, Patel S, Buist DSM, Bowles EJA, Evans DGR, Eccles D, Hopper J, Li S, Southey M, Duffy S, Cuzick J, Dos Santos Silva I, Miners A, Sadique Z, Yang L, Legood R, Manchanda R. A cost-effectiveness analysis of multigene testing for all patients with breast cancer. JAMA Oncol. 2019 Oct. doi: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2019.3323. PubMed
Lee CI, Houssami N, Elmore JG, Buist DSM. Pathways to breast cancer screening artificial intelligence algorithm validation. Breast. 2019 Sep 9. pii: S0960-9776(19)30554-5. doi: 10.1016/j.breast.2019.09.005. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Demb J, Abraham L, Miglioretti DL, Sprague BL, O'Meara ES, Advani S, Henderson LM, Onega T, Buist DSM, Schousboe JT, Walter LC, Kerlikowske K, Braithwaite D. Screening mammography outcomes: risk of breast cancer and mortality by comorbidity score and age. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2019 Sep 6. pii: 5556084. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djz172. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Henderson LM, Ichikawa L, Buist DSM, Lee JM, Bush M, Johnson D, Onega T, Nekhlyudov L, Kerlikowske K, Miglioretti DL, Sprague BL, Wernli KJ. Patterns of breast imaging use among women with a personal history of breast cancer. J Gen Intern Med. 2019 Oct;34(10):2098-2106. doi: 10.1007/s11606-019-05181-6. PubMed
Wernli KJ, Brandzel SD, Buist DM, Bush M, DeMartini W, Ichikawa L, Haas C, Henderson LM, Johnson D, Kerlikowske K, McColgin D, Miglioretti DL, Nekhlyudov L, Onega T, Rosenberg DE. Is breast MRI better at finding second breast cancers than mammograms alone for breast cancer survivors? Washington, DC: Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). 2019. https://doi.org/10.25302/5.2019.CE.13046656.
Kerlikowske K, Sprague BL, Tosteson ANA, Wernli KJ, Rauscher GH, Johnson D, Buist DSM, Onega T, Henderson LM, O'Meara ES, Miglioretti DL. Strategies to identify women at high risk of advanced breast cancer during routine screening for discussion of supplemental imaging. JAMA Intern Med. 2019 Jul 1. pii: 2737320. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2019.1758. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Wernli KJ, Ichikawa K, Kerlikowske K, Buist DSM, Brandzel SD, Bush M, Johnson D, Henderson LM, Nekhlyudov L, Onega T, Sprague BL, Lee JM, Lehman C, Miglioretti DL. Surveillance breast MRI and mammography performance measures in women with a personal history of breast cancer. Radiology. 2019 Aug;292(2):311-318. doi: 10.1148/radiol.2019182475. Epub 2019 Jun 4. PubMed
Wernli KJ, Ichikawa L, Kerlikowske K, Buist DSM, Brandzel SD, Bush M, Johnson D, Henderson LM, Nekhlyudov L, Onega T, Sprague BL, Lee JM, Lehman CD, Miglioretti DL. Surveillance breast MRI and mammography: comparison in women with a personal history of breast cancer. Radiology. 2019 Jun 4:182475. doi: 10.1148/radiol.2019182475. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
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.
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.
cancer research
Using breast MRI after cancer may lead to unneeded biopsies
A Kaiser Permanente-led BCSC study is among the largest ever to evaluate adding MRI surveillance for breast cancer survivors.
Researcher profile
What drives Diana Buist to study breast cancer screening?
Kaiser Permanente Share profiles longtime KPWHRI investigator and director of research and strategic partnerships.
Read it in News and Events.
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.
KPWHRI In the Media
Mailing home HPV tests may provide alternative to Pap screening
Self-testing for cervical cancer increases screening rates
HealthDay, Nov 8, 2019
