Weiwei Zhu, MS
“I have a longstanding interest in using biostatistics to advance medical research. Working at KPWHRI gives me a great opportunity to contribute to challenging projects with rich, relevant data and make a national impact on health care systems.”
Weiwei Zhu, MS
Senior Collaborative Biostatistician, Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute
Weiwei.Zhu@kp.org
206-442-5215
Biography
Weiwei Zhu, MS, joined Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute's Biostatistics Unit in 2009. She works closely with Affiliate Investigator Diana Miglioretti, PhD, to design studies, manage data, and conduct statistical analyses for the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium (BCSC) — the National Cancer Institute’s 7-site network of mammography researchers. She has been a key member of the BCSC Statistical Coordinating Center for over 10 years. Her work studying breast screening benefits and risks played an essential role in an American Cancer Society screening guideline change in 2015.
Weiwei’s current other studies include testing the effects of sitting reduction on cardiometabolic health outcomes through a large randomized trial in older adults, studying a sedentary behavior reduction and physical activity promotion intervention for the older Latino/Hispanic community, and examining the association of the 24-hour activity cycle with cognition and physical function in older adults with Senior Investigator Dori Rosenberg, PhD, MPH. Weiwei has also collaborated on research to quantify the serious risks of misuse, abuse, and addiction associated with long-term opioid use. This multi-site study used electronic health record data and survey interviews to provide estimates of long-term opioid use risks in 2 cohorts.
After beginning her medical research career as an intern at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in 2007, Weiwei served as a biostatistician at the Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute in Florida.
Research interests and experience
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Biostatistics
Correlated data analysis; longitudinal data; survival analysis
Medication Use & Patient Safety
Opioid misuse, abuse, and addiction
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Cancer
Biostatistics; breast cancer screening and surveillance
Recent publications
Dittus K, Geller B, Weaver DL, Kerlikowske K, Zhu W, Hubbard R, Braithwaite D, O'Meara ES, Miglioretti DL. Impact of mammography screening interval on breast cancer diagnosis by menopausal status and BMI. J Gen Intern Med. 2013 Nov;28(11):1454-62. doi:10.1007/s11606-013-2507-0. Epub 2013 Jun 13. PubMed
Fenton JJ, Onega T, Zhu W, Balch S, Smith-Bindman R, Henderson L, Sprague BL, Kerlikowske K, Hubbard RA. Validation of a Medicare claims-based algorithm for identifying breast cancers detected at screening mammography. Med Care. 2013 Aug 6. doi: 10.1097/MLR.0b013e3182a303d7. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Kerlikowske K, Zhu WW, Hubbard R, Gellar B, Dittus K, Braithwaite D, O’Meara E, Wernli KJ, Miglioretti D, for the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium. Outcomes of screening mammography by frequency, breast density and postmenopausal hormone therapy. JAMA Intern Med. 2013 May 13;173(9):807-16. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.307. Epub 2013 Mar 18. PubMed
Hubbard RA, Zhu W, Horblyuk R, Karliner L, Sprague BL, Henderson L, Lee D, Onega T, Buist DS, Sweet A. Diagnostic imaging and biopsy pathways following abnormal screen-film and digital screening mammography. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2013 Apr;138(3):879-87. doi: 10.1007/s10549-013-2466-5. Epub 2013 Mar 8. PubMed
Braithwaite D, Zhu W, Hubbard RA, O'Meara ES, Miglioretti DL, Geller B, Dittus K, Moore D, Wernli KJ, Mandelblatt J, Kerlikowske K, for the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium. Screening outcomes in older U.S. women undergoing multiple mammograms in community practice: does interval, age or comorbidity score affect tumor characteristics or false positive rates? J Natl Cancer Inst. 2013 Mar 6;105(5):334-41. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djs645. Epub 2013 Feb 5. PubMed
Research
Roundup of 3 recent studies on breast cancer screening
New research spotlights overdiagnosis, MRI before surgery, and a new way of predicting breast cancer risk
Cancer screening
Breast density is a risk factor for older women, too
Findings in JAMA Network Open could help guide decision-making about breast cancer screening for women 75 and older.
Research
Phone therapy for insomnia shown to improve sleep
A study among KP members with sleep problems and osteoarthritis shows promise for overcoming obstacles to treatment.
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