Bette Caan, DrPH

Bette Caan Kaiser Permanente Division of Research
2000 Broadway
Oakland, CA 94612

(510) 891-3719 (phone)
bette.caan@kp.org

Bette Caan, DrPH, is a senior research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research with a focus in nutritional epidemiology. Dr. Caan’s scientific publications number over 115. She is a reviewer for several nutrition and epidemiology journals and an ad hoc reviewer for several National Institute of Health study sections. Her current research interests include dietary and anthropometric risk factors for cancer and cancer survival, dietary measurement and assessment, dietary intervention methods, and behavioral determinants and management of childhood obesity. Dr. Caan is the principal investigator of the California Men’s Health Study, a cohort of 84,000 Kaiser Permanente men funded by the California Cancer Program to study etiological factors related to prostate cancer and other health outcomes. She is also the principal investigator of one of the clinical centers of the Women’s Health Initiative. The majority of her additional funding is from grants and contracts from the National Cancer Institute to test dietary interventions or determine lifestyle changes that may be helpful in the prevention or recurrence of cancer.

Current Position(s):

Research Scientist III, Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California
Chair, School Nutrition and Activity Committee, Kentfield School District

Primary Research Interests:

Nutritional epidemiology
Dietary measurement and assessment
Dietary intervention methods
Dietary risk factors for cancer survival
Childhood obesity

WHI Breast Tumor Tissue Pilot Study

Funder: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
Principal Investigator: Caan, Bette

SEER Special Study: Improving Understanding of Breast Cancer Health Disparities Using Linked Data Sets

The aim of this study is to 1) compare treatment patterns and receipt among National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines among breast cancer patients from 1998 to 2008 by race/ethnicity and neighborhood socio-economic status 2) compare breast cancer subtype by neighborhood socio-economic status and race ethncicity 3) compare the extent of adherence to guideline treatment by neighborhood socio-economic status 4) examine impact of neighborhood socio-economic status, and access factors, breast cancer subtype and adherence to guidline treatment on breast cancer survival.
Funder: Health Resources and Services
Principal Investigator: Caan, Bette

Breast and Colorectal Cancer Incidence Rates as a Function of Combinations of Use of Menopausal Hormone Therapy and Cancer Screening Among Female Members of Two Large Health Plans in the US

This study establishes breast cancer incidence rates among women who stopped taking menopausal hormone therapy, according to type of menopausal hormone therapy use, time since last use, and patterns of recent screening mammography, using individual-level data, rather than descriptive comparisons of aggregate data.
Funder: National Cancer Institute
Principal Investigator: Caan, Bette

Field Centers for the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) Extension

This is both a clinical trial and an observational study. The clinical trial assesses the effect of hormone replacement therapy, dietary modification, calcium and vitamin D supplementation on coronary heart disease, breast and colorectal cancers, osteoporotic fractures, and total mortality. The observational study evaluates risk factors and biomarkers for these, and other important disease outcomes, for women in their postmenopausal years.
Funder: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
Principal Investigator: Caan, Bette

Women's Health Initiatve Memory Study

The major goal of this project is to study the effects of hormone therapy on the development and progression of dementia.
Funder: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
Principal Investigator: Caan, Bette

Women's Healthy Eating and Living Trial: A Randomized Controlled Trial of the Effect of a Plant-based Diet on Breast Cancer Recurrence

This study evaluates the effect of a low fat, high fruit and vegetable diet on breast cancer survival and recurrence in women with early stage breast cancer.
Funder: National Cancer Institute
Principal Investigator: Caan, Bette

Women's Health Initiative (WHI) Nutritional and Physical Activity Assessment Study (NPAAS)

The project has two interconnected aims: The first is calibration of instruments used in WHI, while the second is evaluation and comparison of prominent dietary and physical activity assessment instruments (and their combination). The project is being done as an ancillary study to WHI in nine of the 40 existing WHI clinical centers.
Funder: National Cancer Institute
Principal Investigator: Caan, Bette

Body Size, Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Health Outcomes in the California Men's Health Study

This study utilizes a large cohort of men to prospectively examine how the combination of weight (BMI) and known clinical/behavioral risk factors such as hypertension, smoking and diet impact the following endpoints: cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, and others.
Funder: Sanofi-Aventis
Principal Investigator: Caan, Bette

Long Term Health Outcomes in Breast Cancer Survivors

This study builds on the Life After Cancer Epidemiology (LACE) Study cohort of breast cancer survivors. This study will follow these women for another four years and focus on behavioral and medical predictors of recurrence, survival, and quality of life in the permanent survival period and late and long term health effects of cancer therapy.
Funder: National Cancer Institute
Principal Investigator: Caan, Bette

Molecular Profiles and Lifestyle Factors in Breast Cancer Prognosis (LACE3)

The primary goal of this study is to examine the effects of intrinsic subtypes and their relationship to breast cancer risk factors and short and long-term prognosis in two ongoing cohort studies of breast cancer survivors (N=4177) being conducted within the Kaiser Permanente of Northern California Medical Care program.
Funder: National Cancer Institute
Principal Investigator: Caan, Bette

Kaiser Permanente Division of Research