Laura White
Profiles

Laura F White, PhD

Professor, Biostatistics - Boston University School of Public Health

617-358-2519
lfwhite@bu.edu
Crosstown Center - 312
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Biography

Laura Forsberg White, PhD, is a Professor of Biostatistics at Boston University and co-director of the graduate program in Biostatistics. She is the associate director of the Population Health Data Science Program and directs the Data Science and Surveillance Core of the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases. Her research focuses on developing statistical tools to better understand the transmission dynamics and epidemiology of infectious diseases and substance use disorders. This includes the development of novel methodologies for the detection of disease outbreaks, as well as the application statistical methods for public health surveillance systems, including spatial statistics and time series. Dr. White's work includes applications and collaborations in Tuberculosis, Hepatitis C, HIV, and substance use disorders. She works with several large international studies focused on Tuberculosis, is part of the Boston Providence Center for AIDS Research, and a CDC CFA-funded Center of Excellence. She leads her own research group focused on developing statistical methods to better understand TB transmission and burden, as well as Covid-19 transmission dynamics. At SPH, she teaches Public Health Surveillance: A Methods Based Approach (BS 728).

Other Positions

  • Adjunct Assistant Professor, Biostatistics - Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Education

  • Harvard University, PhD Field of Study: Biostatistics
  • Harvard School of Public Health, SM/ScM Field of Study: Biostatistics
  • Utah State University, BS Field of Study: Mathematics

Websites

Classes Taught

  • SPHBS728

Publications

  • Published on 4/20/2025

    Thomson SJ, Mistry R, Bayly H, Overbeck V, Sagar M, Schechter-Perkins EM, White LF, Jacobson KR, Bouton TC. Barriers to recruitment of an observational SARS-CoV-2 emergency department cohort at Boston Medical Center. BMC Emerg Med. 2025 Apr 20; 25(1):68. PMID: 40254607.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 4/1/2025

    Jurecka C, Cavana E, Zhang Y, Erdman EA, Aytha Swathi P, Barocas JA, White LF. Rethinking Vulnerability: Using Factor Analysis to Assess Census Tract-Level Vulnerability. Public Health Rep. 2025 Apr 01; 333549251313986. PMID: 40166917.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 3/30/2025

    Yuan L, Stoddard M, Sarkar S, Egeren DV, Mangalaganesh S, Nolan RP, Rogers MS, Hather G, White LF, Chakravarty A. The Impact of Vaccination Frequency on COVID-19 Public Health Outcomes: A Model-Based Analysis. Vaccines (Basel). 2025 Mar 30; 13(4). PMID: 40333247.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 3/27/2025

    Madushani RWMA, Wang J, Weitz M, Linas BP, White LF, Chrysanthopoulou SA. Empirical calibration of a simulation model of opioid use disorder. PLoS One. 2025; 20(3):e0310763. PMID: 40146669.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 2/28/2025

    Tilhou AS, Gasman S, Wang J, Standish K, White LF, Cogan A, Devlin M, Larochelle M, Adams WG. Assessing inequities in buprenorphine treatment across the care cascade. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2025 May 01; 270:112636. PMID: 40043350.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 2/20/2025

    Tzelios CA, Malatesta S, Carney T, White LF, Weber SE, Thomson S, Theron D, Myers B, Parry CDH, Warren RM, Horsburgh CR, Farhat MR, Jacobson KR. Patient Determinants and Effects on Adherence of Adverse Drug Reactions to Tuberculosis Treatment: A Prospective Cohort Analysis. Clin Infect Dis. 2025 Feb 20. PMID: 39973802.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 12/16/2024

    Barocas JA, Erdman EA, Westfall MY, Christine PJ, Bernson D, Villani J, Doogan NJ, White L, Walley AY, Bettano A, Wang J. Prevalence of adults with stimulant misuse and/or stimulant use disorder in Massachusetts, USA, 2014-2021. Addiction. 2025 Apr; 120(4):711-720. PMID: 39676746.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 11/26/2024

    Malatesta S, Jacobson KR, Carney T, Kolaczyk ED, Gile KJ, White LF. Inferring bivariate associations with continuous data from studies using respondent-driven sampling. J R Stat Soc Ser C Appl Stat. 2025 Mar; 74(2):429-446. PMID: 40092669.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 10/14/2024

    Overbeck V, Malatesta S, Carney T, Myers B, Parry CDH, Horsburgh CR, Theron D, White LF, Warren RM, Jacobson KR, Bouton TC. Understanding the impact of pandemics on long-term medication adherence: directly observed therapy in a tuberculosis treatment cohort pre- and post-COVID-19 lockdowns. BMC Infect Dis. 2024 Oct 14; 24(1):1154. PMID: 39396938.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 10/1/2024

    Chatterjee A, Stewart EA, Assoumou SA, Chrysanthopoulou SA, Zwick H, Harris RA, O'Dea R, Schackman BR, White LF, Linas BP. Health and Economic Outcomes of Offering Buprenorphine in Homeless Shelters in Massachusetts. JAMA Netw Open. 2024 Oct 01; 7(10):e2437233. PMID: 39412807.

     Read At: PubMed

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