Deborah J. Bowen, PhD

Dr. Deborah "Deb" Bowen joined the Department of Bioethics and Humanities as a professor in 2014. Prior to her time at the University of Washington, Deb served as Professor and Chair in the Department of Community Health Sciences of the School of Public Health at Boston University. Prior to her time at BU she was a faculty member in the UW Department of Health Services and Member with the Public Health Sciences Division of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

Dr. Bowen, who was a co-author on over 400 peer-reviewed publications, devoted her career to studying biobehavioral determinants of diverse forms of healthcare delivery and health promotion. She was the principal investigator of several NIH-funded grants involving cancer risk feedback and communication, including the Breast Cancer Risk Counseling Studies, the RISK study, the WIRES and Suntalk studies. She was an investigator in the coordinating centers of three large multi-center prevention trials. Dr. Bowen was the Director of the Prevention Research Center at BU, focused on improving the health of public housing residents. In addition, she led or participated in numerous community intervention studies that have successfully recruited and maintained advisory committees, including members of the community representing the target audience. Dr. Bowen was a co-investigator and member of the Steering committee for a large R25T training grant for pre and post doctoral fellows at the University of Washington, focused on health communications and biobehavioral cancer prevention.

Deb was also the Director of the Prevention Research Center at BU, focused on improving the health of public housing residents. Her research impact was significant and wide ranging. She was a valued collaborator and mentor to many biobehavioral health and public health genetics students, both here at the UW/Fred Hutch and in Boston.