Dr. Evelyn Whitlock, a board-certified preventive medicine physician, is a senior investigator and the director of Kaiser Permanente Research Affiliates Evidence-based Practice Center (KPRA EPC). Her main focus is evidence-based medicine and policy.
The KPRA EPC is one of 11 officially designated EPCs in the nation. It is under a multi-year contract to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to produce evidence syntheses based on systematic reviews, lead methodological development for systematic reviews, and support the increased application of systematic reviews and other evidence-based products into policy and practice. The EPC involves 79 researchers from three integrated health care delivery systems, including Kaiser Permanente, Group Health, and Health Partners.
Dr. Whitlock serves as the principal investigator for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) contract, an EPC program that systematically reviews the evidence to support USPSTF recommendations for clinical preventive services. She is also co-principal investigator of AHRQ’s Scientific Resource Center for its Effective Healthcare Program and leads the Topic Triage group, which evaluates topics nominated for systematic review in comparative effectiveness.
Dr. Whitlock was a member of the senior faculty of the Oregon Clinical and Translational Research Institute, one of 12 NIH-funded awards for clinical and translational sciences, and helped develop and implement OCTRI's Translation of Research into Policy and Practice Program. She previously served as the Portland clinical site PI and medical director for the Women's Health Initiative and is now a co-investigator. Dr. Whitlock has significant experience conducting clinical trials, epidemiological studies, and health services research using large observational datasets, survey data, and administrative datasets. Other recent research includes a collaboration with the CDC that created and validated an algorithm to determine pregnancy episodes and their outcomes within Kaiser Permanente Northwest, with ongoing work investigating important public health issues during pregnancy.
In addition to her appointment at CHR, Dr. Whitlock is an adjunct associate professor in OHSU’s Department of Medical Informatics and Clinical Epidemiology. She also serves as a clinical associate professor in the Department of Health and Preventive Medicine at OHSU, where she directed the Residency Program from 1993-1997.
Recent Publications
- Cottrell E, Whitlock EP, Kato E, Uhl S, Belinson S, Chang C, Hoomans T, Meltzer D, Noorani H, Robinson K, Motu'apuaka M, Anderson J, Paynter R, Guise JM. Defining the benefits of stakeholder engagement in systematic reviews. Comparative Effectiveness Research. April 16, 2015;5: 13-19.
- Henrikson NB, Webber E, Goddard K, Scrol A, Piper M, Williams MS, Zallen DT, Calonge N, Ganiats TG, Janssens ACJW, Zauber A, Lansdorp-Vogelaar I, van Ballegooijen M, Whitlock E. Family history and the natural history of colorectal cancer: Systematic review. Genet Med. 2015 Jan 15. [Epub 2015 Jan 15]
- Cottrell E, Whitlock E, Kato E, Uhl S, Belinson S, Chang C, Hoomans T, Meltzer D, Noorani H, Robinson K, Schoelles K, Motu’apuaka M, Anderson J, Paynter R, Guise JM. Defining the Benefits of Stakeholder Engagement in Systematic Reviews. Research White Paper [Internet]. (Prepared by the Scientific Resource Center under Contract No. 290-2012-00004-C.) AHRQ Publication No. 14-EHC006-EF. Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. March 2014. www.effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/reports/final.cfm.
- Curry S, Grossman D, Whitlock EP, Cantu A. Behavioral Counseling Research and Evidence-Based Practice Recommendations: U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Perspectives. Annals of Internal Medicine. March 18, 2014;160(6):407-413