Bette Caan

Bette Caan, DrPH, is a senior research scientist and a nutritional epidemiologist at the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research. She has been at the Division of Research since 1983. Dr. Caan holds a master’s degree in nutrition from Columbia University, a master’s degree in epidemiology from the University of California, Berkeley, and a doctorate in public health nutrition from the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Caan directs a research program in the examination of modifiable lifestyle risk factors for the prevention and progression of cancer, with a focus on energy balance risk factors. She has expertise in dietary measurement and assessment and the conduct of dietary intervention trials. Dr. Caan has authored or co-authored 290 publications while a researcher at DOR. Her research publications cover a wide range of topics, primarily in nutrition and body size, cancer epidemiology, and women’s health. Dr. Caan is currently the Principal Investigator of several federally funded research projects including the WHI Cancer Survivor Cohort; the LACE study, a prospective cohort of breast cancer to study effects of modifiable lifestyle factors on recurrence and survival; and a study on the role of body composition in relation to colorectal cancer survival.

Primary Research Interests:

• Dietary risk and anthropometric risk factors for cancer survival
• Dietary intervention trials
• Dietary and body composition measurement and assessment
• Women’s health