Justin White, PhD

Assistant Professor
Institute for Health Policy Studies
+1 415 476-8045

Justin White, PhD, is Associate Professor in the Department of Health Law, Policy and Management at Boston University School of Public Health. He is also Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at UCSF School of Medicine. Dr. White is a health economist who conducts research to evaluate the effects of interventions and policies on behavioral risk factors for chronic disease and related health outcomes in underserved populations. Much of his recent work has focused on tobacco use and nutrition. In one stream of research, Dr. White applies quasi-experimental econometric techniques to evaluate the effects of social and economic policies on mitigating chronic disease risk. Recent and ongoing evaluation projects focus on: taxation of unhealthy products, cash and food assistance programs, and poverty alleviation programs. In a second stream, he designs and implements incentive-based interventions to change health behavior among low-income groups, evaluated through randomized trials and informed by insights from the field of behavioral economics. Recent and ongoing interventional studies focus on: smoking cessation and prevention, diet, and oral health.

Dr. White holds a PhD in health policy and a concurrent MA in economics from UC Berkeley and an MSPH in health policy from UNC Chapel Hill. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship in cardiovascular disease prevention at Stanford University's Prevention Research Center.

Publications: 

Evaluating the Impact of a Game (Inner Dragon) on User Engagement Within a Leading Smartphone App for Smoking Cessation: Randomized Controlled Trial.

Journal of medical Internet research

White JS, Toussaert S, Raiff BR, Salem MK, Chiang AY, Crane D, Warrender E, Lyles CR, Abroms LC, Westmaas JL, Thrul J

Neighborhood Disadvantage and Birth Outcomes Among Refugees.

Pediatrics

Foverskov E, White JS, Frøslev T, Pedersen L, Sørensen HT, Hamad R

Impact of Vietnam-era G.I. Bill eligibility on later-life blood pressure distribution: evidence from the Vietnam draft lottery natural experiment.

American journal of epidemiology

Khadka A, Pacca L, Glymour MM, Bibbins-Domingo K, White JS, Basu S, Jiang F, Vable AM

Acceptability of heart rate-based remote monitoring of smoking status.

Addictive behaviors reports

Mitnick M, Goodwin S, Bubna M, White JS, Raiff BR

Kim et al. Respond to "Dispersal policies, neighborhood disadvantage, and refugee health in a Nordic context".

American journal of epidemiology

Kim MH, Frøslev T, White JS, Glymour MM, Illango SD, Sørensen HT, Pedersen L, Hamad R

Advances in difference-in-differences methods for policy evaluation research.

Epidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.)

Wang G, Hamad R, White JS

Mediating pathways between neighborhood disadvantage and cardiovascular risk: Quasi-experimental evidence from a Danish refugee dispersal policy.

American journal of epidemiology

Kim MH, Frøslev T, White JS, Glymour MM, Illango SD, Sørensen HT, Pedersen L, Hamad R

Individual and regional differences in the effects of school racial segregation on Black students' health.

SSM - population health

Schwartz GL, Wang G, Kim MH, Glymour MM, White JS, Collin D, Hamad R

Evaluating the Impact of a Game (Inner Dragon) on User Engagement Within a Leading Smartphone App for Smoking Cessation: A Randomized Controlled Trial (Preprint).

Journal of medical Internet research

Justin S. White, Séverine Toussaert, Bethany R. Raiff, Marie K. Salem, Amy Yunyu Chiang, David Crane, Edward Warrender, Courtney R. Lyles, Lorien C. Abroms, J. Lee Westmaas, Johannes Thrul

Medicaid Expansion and Perinatal Health Outcomes: A Quasi-Experimental Study.

Maternal and child health journal

Modrek S, Collin DF, Hamad R, White JS

Evaluation of Changes in Prices and Purchases Following Implementation of Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Taxes Across the US.

JAMA health forum

Kaplan S, White JS, Madsen KA, Basu S, Villas-Boas SB, Schillinger D

Testing mediating pathways between school segregation and health: Evidence on peer prejudice and health behaviors.

Social science & medicine (1982)

Schwartz GL, Chiang AY, Wang G, Kim MH, White JS, Hamad R

Effectiveness of Peer-Support Interventions for Smoking Cessation: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco

Yuan P, Westmaas JL, Thrul J, Toussaert S, Hilton JF, White JS

Developing a Game (Inner Dragon) Within a Leading Smartphone App for Smoking Cessation: Design and Feasibility Evaluation Study.

JMIR Serious Games

White JS, Salem MK, Toussaert S, Westmaas JL, Raiff BR, Crane D, Warrender E, Lyles C, Abroms L, Thrul J

Trends in depression risk before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

PloS one

Villas-Boas SB, White JS, Kaplan S, Hsia RY

Data envelopment analysis to evaluate the efficiency of tobacco treatment programs in the NCI Moonshot Cancer Center Cessation Initiative.

Implementation science communications

Pluta K, Hohl SD, D'Angelo H, Ostroff JS, Shelley D, Asvat Y, Chen LS, Cummings KM, Dahl N, Day AT, Fleisher L, Goldstein AO, Hayes R, Hitsman B, Buckles DH, King AC, Lam CY, Lenhoff K, Levinson AH, Minion M, Presant C, Prochaska JJ, Shoenbill K, Simmons V, Taylor K, Tindle H, Tong E, White JS, Wiseman KP, Warren GW, Baker TB, Rolland B, Fiore MC, Salloum RG

Sugar-sweetened beverage taxes and perinatal health: A quasi-experimental study.

American journal of preventive medicine

Jackson KE, Hamad R, Karasek D, White JS

Neighborhood disadvantage and the risk of dementia and mortality among refugees to Denmark: A quasi-experimental study.

SSM - population health

Kim MH, Foverskov E, Frøslev T, White JS, Glymour MM, Hainmueller J, Pedersen L, Sørensen HT, Hamad R

Risk of Psychiatric Disorders Among Refugee Children and Adolescents Living in Disadvantaged Neighborhoods.

JAMA pediatrics

Foverskov E, White JS, Frøslev T, Sørensen HT, Hamad R

Association between indoor residual spraying and pregnancy outcomes: a quasi-experimental study from Uganda.

International journal of epidemiology

Roh ME, Mpimbaza A, Oundo B, Irish A, Murphy M, Wu SL, White JS, Shiboski S, Glymour MM, Gosling R, Dorsey G, Sturrock H

Opportunities and challenges in using instrumental variables to study causal effects in nonrandomized stress and trauma research.

Psychological trauma : theory, research, practice and policy

Matthay EC, Smith ML, Glymour MM, White JS, Gradus JL

School racial segregation and long-term cardiovascular health among black adults in the US: A quasi-experimental study.

PLos Medicine

Kim MH, Schwartz GL, White JS, Glymour MM, Reardon SF, Kershaw KN, Gomez SL, Collin DF, Inamdar P, Wang G, Hamad R

Neighbourhood socioeconomic disadvantage and psychiatric disorders among refugees: a population-based, quasi-experimental study in Denmark.

Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology

Foverskov E, White JS, Norredam M, Frøslev T, Kim MH, Glymour MM, Pedersen L, Sørensen HT, Hamad R

School Racial Segregation and the Health of Black Children.

Pediatrics

Wang G, Schwartz GL, Kim MH, White JS, Glymour MM, Reardon S, Kershaw KN, Gomez SL, Inamdar PP, Hamad R

Non-monetary incentives for tobacco prevention among youth in Indonesia.

Journal of health economics

Triyana M, White JS

The Potential for Healthy Checkout Policies to Advance Nutrition Equity.

Nutrients

Falbe J, White JS, Sigala DM, Grummon AH, Solar SE, Powell LM

Paid Family Leave and Mental Health in the U.S.: A Quasi-Experimental Study of State Policies.

American journal of preventive medicine

Irish AM, White JS, Modrek S, Hamad R

Mixed-methods economic evaluation of the implementation of tobacco treatment programs in National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers.

Implementation science communications

Salloum RG, D'Angelo H, Theis RP, Rolland B, Hohl S, Pauk D, LeLaurin JH, Asvat Y, Chen LS, Day AT, Goldstein AO, Hitsman B, Hudson D, King AC, Lam CY, Lenhoff K, Levinson AH, Prochaska J, Smieliauskas F, Taylor K, Thomas J, Tindle H, Tong E, White JS, Vogel WB, Warren GW, Fiore M

The effects of state earned income tax credits on mental health and health behaviors: A quasi-experimental study.

Social science & medicine (1982)

Collin DF, Shields-Zeeman LS, Batra A, White JS, Tong M, Hamad R

Beverage Advertisement Receptivity Associated With Sugary Drink Intake and Harm Perceptions Among California Adolescents.

American journal of health promotion : AJHP

Chaffee BW, Werts M, White JS, Couch ET, Urata J, Cheng J, Kearns C

Incentive programmes for smoking cessation: cluster randomized trial in workplaces in Thailand.

BMJ (Clinical research ed.)

White JS, Lowenstein C, Srivirojana N, Jampaklay A, Dow WH

Family monetary incentives as a value-based care model for oral hygiene: rationale and design of the BEhavioral EConomics for Oral health iNnovation (BEECON) trial.

Journal of public health dentistry

Ramos-Gomez F, White JS, Lindau HE, Lin TK, Finlayson TL, Liu JX, Gansky SA

Heterogeneity in the Effects of Food Vouchers on Nutrition Among Low-Income Adults: A Quantile Regression Analysis.

American journal of health promotion : AJHP

White JS, Vasconcelos G, Harding M, Carroll MM, Gardner CD, Basu S, Seligman HK

Association of Neighborhood Disadvantage With Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Events Among Refugees in Denmark.

JAMA network open

Hamad R, Öztürk B, Foverskov E, Pedersen L, Sørensen HT, Bøtker HE, White JS

Monetary incentives for improving smartphone-measured oral hygiene behaviors in young children: A randomized pilot trial.

PloS one

White JS, Ramos-Gomez F, Liu JX, Jue B, Finlayson TL, Garza JR, Crawford AH, Helman S, Santo W, Cheng J, Kahn JG, Gansky SA

Cigarette Pack Prices and Sales Following Policy Changes in California, 2011-2018.

American Journal of Public Health

Boettiger DC, White JS

Neighborhood deprivation and mental health among immigrants to Sweden.

Epidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.)

Raphael E, White JS, Li X, Cederin K, Glymour MM, Sundquist K, Sundquist J, Hamad R

Peer Mentoring and Automated Text Messages for Smoking Cessation: A Randomized Pilot Trial.

Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco

White JS, Toussaert S, Thrul J, Bontemps-Jones J, Abroms L, Westmaas JL

The effect of California's paid family leave policy on parent health: A quasi-experimental study.

Social science & medicine (1982)

Lee BC, Modrek S, White JS, Batra A, Collin DF, Hamad R

Projected costs of single-payer healthcare financing in the United States: A systematic review of economic analyses.

PLos Medicine

Cai C, Runte J, Ostrer I, Berry K, Ponce N, Rodriguez M, Bertozzi S, White JS, Kahn JG

E-cigarette Product Preferences among Adult Smokers: A Discrete Choice Experiment.

Tobacco regulatory science

Shang C, Weaver SR, White JS, Huang J, Nonnemaker J, Cheng KW, Chaloupka FJ

Challenges to generating political prioritization for adolescent sexual and reproductive health in Kenya: A qualitative study.

PloS one

Onono MA, Brindis CD, White JS, Goosby E, Okoro DO, Bukusi EA, Rutherford GW

Effects Of Alternative Food Voucher Delivery Strategies On Nutrition Among Low-Income Adults.

Health affairs (Project Hope)

Basu S, Gardner CD, White JS, Rigdon J, Carroll MM, Akers M, Seligman HK

Paid Family Leave Effects on Breastfeeding: A Quasi-Experimental Study of US Policies.

American Journal of Public Health

Hamad R, Modrek S, White JS

Incentives in workplace wellness programmes.

The lancet. Diabetes & endocrinology

White JS

Does breastfeeding duration decrease child obesity? An instrumental variables analysis.

Pediatric obesity

Modrek S, Basu S, Harding M, White JS, Bartick MC, Rodriguez E, Rosenberg KD

Long-term effects of neighbourhood deprivation on diabetes risk: quasi-experimental evidence from a refugee dispersal policy in Sweden.

The lancet. Diabetes & endocrinology

White JS, Hamad R, Li X, Basu S, Ohlsson H, Sundquist J, Sundquist K

Incentivizing health care utilization and health outcomes

In Handbook of Global Health Economics and Public Policy, Volume 1, edited by R. Scheffler. London, UK: World Scientific Publishing

Dow WH, White JS, Bertozzi SM

Intertemporal choices for health

In Behavioral Economics and Public Health, edited by C.A. Roberto and I. Kawachi. Boston, MA: Oxford University Press

White JS, Dow WH

Commitment contracts and team incentives: a randomized controlled trial for smoking cessation in Thailand.

American journal of preventive medicine

White JS, Dow WH, Rungruanghiranya S

The unintended consequences of intended pregnancies: youth, condom use, and HIV transmission in Mozambique.

AIDS education and prevention : official publication of the International Society for AIDS Education

Speizer IS, White JS

Association between contraceptive discontinuation and pregnancy intentions in Guatemala.

Revista panamericana de salud publica = Pan American journal of public health

Barden-O'Fallon JL, Speizer IS, White JS

Can family planning outreach bridge the urban-rural divide in Zambia?

BMC health services research

White JS, Speizer IS

Managed care rebound? Recent changes in health plans' cost containment strategies.

Health affairs (Project Hope)

Mays GP, Claxton G, White J

The puzzling popularity of the PPO.

Health affairs (Project Hope)

Hurley RE, Strunk BC, White JS

Getting along or going along? Health plan-provider contract showdowns subside.

Issue brief (Center for Studying Health System Change)

White JS, Hurley RE, Strunk BC