Garnet Anderson PhD

Dr. Garnet Anderson is a biostatistician and clinical trialist who focuses on chronic disease prevention and women's health. She is best known for her leadership role in the Women’s Health Initiative, a national effort to test methods to reduce the risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease and fractures related to osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. In 2002, she and her WHI colleagues reported that menopausal estrogen-plus-progestin therapy increased the risk of breast cancer, coronary heart disease, stroke and blood clots. These findings led to a rapid reduction in use of these hormones. Subsequent analyses led by Hutch colleagues estimated these changes prevented 126,000 breast cancer diagnoses and saved approximately $35.2 billion in direct medical expenses in the U.S. alone over 10 years after the trial.

As principal investigator of the Fred Hutch-based WHI Clinical Coordinating Center, she oversees the integration of many different studies within this large program. One of these that she also leads is Life and Longevity After Cancer (LILAC), a program to examine late- and long-term effects of cancer and its treatment among 13,000 aging cancer survivors. She also serves as a statistician with the SWOG Statistical Center and has contributed to local efforts to develop and evaluate prevention and screening methods for ovarian cancer.