Laura Forsberg White, PhD
Professor
Boston University School of Public Health
Biostatistics

PhD, Harvard University
SM/ScM, Harvard School of Public Health
BS, Utah State University



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).

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility

I chair our admissions committee and have participating in holistic admissions workshops. We have modified our processes to be more holistic and also to improve our outreach and support of students from historically underrepresented groups. I have participated in trainings on implicit bias and other topics related to DEIJ.

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




Researching Effective Strategies to Prevent Opioid Death (RESPOND)
09/15/2023 - 07/31/2028 (Multi-PI)
PI: Laura Forsberg White, PhD
Boston Medical Center Corporation NIH NIDA
5R01DA046527-07

Adapting backcalculation methods to estimate the incidence and infectiousness distributions of tuberculosis
12/01/2024 - 11/30/2026 (Key Person / Mentor)
NIH/National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases
1F31AI183782-01A1

BUSPH Interdisciplinary Training Program for Biostatisticians
07/01/2021 - 06/30/2026 (Multi-PI)
PI: Laura Forsberg White, PhD
NIH/National Institute of General Medical Sciences
5T32GM140972-04

Maximizing Investigator's Research Award (R35)
06/01/2021 - 05/31/2026 (PI)
NIH/National Institute of General Medical Sciences
5R35GM141821-04

Epistorm: Center for Advanced Epidemic Analytics and Predictive Modeling Technology
09/30/2023 - 09/29/2025 (Multi-PI)
PI: Laura Forsberg White, PhD
Northeastern University HHS CDC


Vertex Student Fellowship - Luke Zheng
09/01/2024 - 08/31/2025 (PI)
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated


Vertex Fellowship for Jiaying Chen
09/01/2023 - 12/31/2024 (PI)
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated


Vertex Fellowship for Yuyan Liu
02/01/2024 - 06/16/2024 (PI)
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated


Vertex Fellowship for Shiyao Li
09/01/2023 - 05/31/2024 (PI)
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated


Megan Willis (Student Research), Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated
09/30/2022 - 12/31/2023 (PI)
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated


Showing 10 of 22 results. Show All Results


Title


Yr Title Project-Sub Proj Pubs
2024 BUSPH Interdisciplinary Training Program for Biostatisticians 5T32GM140972-04
2024 Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (R35) 5R35GM141821-04
2023 BUSPH Interdisciplinary Training Program for Biostatisticians 5T32GM140972-03
2023 Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (R35) 5R35GM141821-03
2022 BUSPH Interdisciplinary Training Program for Biostatisticians 5T32GM140972-02
2022 Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (R35) 5R35GM141821-02
2021 BUSPH Interdisciplinary Training Program for Biostatisticians 1T32GM140972-01
2021 Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (R35) 1R35GM141821-01
2021 Methods to Estimate the Effect of Interventions on the Incidence and Transmission of Tuberculosis 5R01GM122876-05 3
2020 Methods to Estimate the Effect of Interventions on the Incidence and Transmission of Tuberculosis 5R01GM122876-04 3
Showing 10 of 16 results. Show All Results

Publications listed below are automatically derived from MEDLINE/PubMed and other sources, which might result in incorrect or missing publications. Faculty can login to make corrections and additions.

iCite Analysis       Copy PMIDs To Clipboard

  1. 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.View Related Profiles. PMID: 40254607; PMCID: PMC12010546; DOI: 10.1186/s12873-025-01224-w;
     
  2. 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.View Related Profiles. PMID: 40166917; PMCID: PMC11962935; DOI: 10.1177/00333549251313986;
     
  3. 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; PMCID: PMC12031506; DOI: 10.3390/vaccines13040368;
     
  4. 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.View Related Profiles. PMID: 40146669; PMCID: PMC11949371; DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0310763;
     
  5. 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.View Related Profiles. PMID: 40043350; PMCID: PMC11934153; DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2025.112636;
     
  6. 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.View Related Profiles. PMID: 39973802; DOI: 10.1093/cid/ciae642;
     
  7. 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.View Related Profiles. PMID: 39676746
     
  8. 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.View Related Profiles. PMID: 40092669; PMCID: PMC11905883; DOI: 10.1093/jrsssc/qlae061;
     
  9. 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.View Related Profiles. PMID: 39396938; PMCID: PMC11475609; DOI: 10.1186/s12879-024-09994-7;
     
  10. 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.View Related Profiles. PMID: 39412807; PMCID: PMC11581564; DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.37233;
     
Showing 10 of 190 results. Show More

This graph shows the total number of publications by year, by first, middle/unknown, or last author.

Bar chart showing 190 publications over 24 distinct years, with a maximum of 24 publications in 2021

YearPublications
19931
20032
20042
20052
20061
20072
20084
20097
20101
20116
20128
20139
20145
20157
201612
201713
20187
201912
202013
202124
202217
202314
202415
20256


Recent (within 3 months)

We’re still living with the legacy of COVID

Boston Globe 3/11/2025
Older

A Bellwether for COVID-19

Harvard Medical School 6/8/2022

Projected Long-Term Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Outcomes Associated With Hepatitis C Virus

Infection Disease Advisor 10/7/2021

Nahid Bhadelia to Head New BU Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases Policy and Research

BU Today 5/18/2021

Population Density Does Not Doom Cities to Pandemic Dangers

Scientific American 9/16/2020
In addition to these self-described keywords below, a list of MeSH based concepts is available here.

Biostatistics
Infectious Diseases
infectious Disease Epidemiology
Public Health Surveillance
Tuberculosis
Substance Use Disorders
SARS-CoV-2

I am an experienced mentor of clinical fellows, postdoctoral fellows, PhD students and masters students. I work collaboratively with clinician scientists and provide expertise in statistical modeling, design of studies, and interpretation and dissemination of results. I am committed to meeting mentees where they are and helping them accomplish their personal goals and work through obstacles that they face in their career. I am passionate about seeing the whole person and recognizing the need to strive for appropriate work/life balance.

Available to Mentor as: (Review Mentor Role Definitions):
  • Advisor
  • Career Mentor
  • Co-Mentor or Peer Mentor
  • Education Mentor
  • Project Mentor
  • Research / Scholarly Mentor
  • Work / Life Integration Mentor
Contact for Mentoring:
  • Email (see 'Contact Info')

801 Massachusetts Ave Crosstown Center
Boston MA 02118
Google Map

617.358.2519
Download vCard

White's Networks
Click the "See All" links for more information and interactive visualizations
Concepts
See all (507) concept(s)
_
Media Mentions
_
Co-Authors
See all (98) people
_
Similar People
See all (60) people
_
Same Department
Search Department