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:
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.
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
Cancer prevention and control; quality of care; preventive care; high-value care; consumer engagement in preventive medicine; systematic reviews
Cancer prevention and control
Buist DS, Chang E, Handley M, Pardee R, Gundersen G, Cheadle A, Reid RJ. Primary care clinicians' perspectives on reducing low-value care in an integrated delivery system. Perm J. 2016 Winter;20(1):41-6. doi: 10.7812/TPP/15-086. Epub 2015 Nov 2. PubMed
Chubak J, Bowles EJ, Yu O, Buist DS, Fujii M, Boudreau DM. Breast cancer recurrence in relation in antidepressant use. Cancer Causes Control. 2015 Oct 30. [Epub ahead of print].
Henderson LM, Weiss J, Hubbard RA, O'Donoghue C, DeMartini WB, Buist DS, Kerlikowske K, Goodrich M, Virnig B, Tosteson AN, Lehman CD, Onega T. Factors associated with preoperative magnetic resonance imaging use among medicare beneficiaries with nonmetastatic breast cancer. Breast J. 2015 Oct 28. doi: 10.1111/tbj.12522. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Buist DS, Field TS, Banegas MP, Clancy HA, Doria-Rose VP, Epstein MM, Greenlee RT, McDonald S, Nichols HB, Pawloski PA, Kushi LH. Training in the conduct of population-based multi-site and multi-disciplinary studies: the Cancer Research Network's scholars program. J Cancer Educ. 2017 Jun;32(2):283-292. doi: 10.1007/s13187-015-0925-x. PubMed
Miglioretti DL, Zhu W, Kerlikowske K, Sprague BL, Onega T, Buist DS, Henderson LM, Smith RA. Breast tumor prognostic characteristics and biennial vs annual mammography, age, and menopausal status. JAMA Oncol. 2015 Nov 1;1(8):1069-77. doi: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2015.3084.
Lehman C, Wellman RD, Buist DS, Kerlikowske K, Tosteson AN, Miglioretti DL. Diagnostic accuracy of digital screening mammography with and without computer-aided detection. JAMA Intern Med. 2015 Sep 28:1-10. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2015.5231. [Epub ahead of print].
Chubak J, Kamineni A, Buist DSM, Anderson ML, Whitlock EP. Aspirin use for the prevention of colorectal cancer: an updated systematic evidence review for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Rockville (MD): Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (US); 2015 Sep. Report No.: 15-05228-EF-1. U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Evidence Syntheses, formerly Systematic Evidence Reviews.
Weinmann S, Williams AE, Kamineni A, Buist DS, Masterson EE, Stout NK, Stark A, Ross TR, Owens CL, Field TS, Doubeni CA. Cervical cancer screening and follow-up in 4 geographically diverse US health care systems, 1998 through 2007. Cancer. 2015 Sep 1;121(17):2976-83. doi: 10.1002/cncr.29445. Epub 2015 May 18. PubMed
Falk RT, Dallal CM, Lacey JV Jr, Bauer DC, Buist DS, Cauley JA, Hue TF, LaCroix AZ, Tice JA, Pfeiffer RM, Xu X, Veenstra TD, Brinton LA. Estrogen metabolites are not associated with colorectal cancer risk in postmenopausal women. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2015 Sep;24(9):1419-22. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-15-0541. Epub 2015 Jun 23. PubMed
Onega T, Goldman LE, Walker RL, Miglioretti DL, Buist DS, Taplin S, Geller BM, Hill DA, Smith-Bindman R. Facility mammography volume in relation to breast cancer screening outcomes. J Med Screen. 2016 Mar;23(1):31-7. doi: 10.1177/0969141315595254. Epub 2015 Aug 11. PubMed
Dr. Diana Buist reflects on the challenges of providing screening during a pandemic — and finds reason for optimism.
The early-career scientists will receive 3 years of intensive training in Learning Health System research.
Admissions open for two new trainees as current scholars advance their projects.
Dr. Diana Buist and team reflect on HOME trial showing 50 percent screening boost in underscreened women.
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.
Interdisciplinary group shows that home-based HPV tests can boost cervical cancer screening for women at high risk.
Reuters Health, published by Medscape, Nov. 24, 2020