Dr. Gretchen White's research focuses on obesity, alcohol and substance use, and career development of health researchers. Dr. White has served as MPI or co-investigator on multiple NIH-funded studies. She uses her epidemiological training in the design, conduct, and analysis of randomized controlled trials and cohort studies to collaborate with other researchers and as a mentor on career development awards.
Dr. White lives in Mt. Lebanon with her husband and two children. In her spare time, she can be found gardening, baking elaborate gluten-free confections, or following college basketball.
Education & Training
- BA (Psychology), Providence College, 2066
- MPH (Epidemiology), Drexel University, 2009
- Public Health Fellowship, Association of the Schools of Public Health/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011
- PhD, Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh, 2018
Representative Publications
White GE, Courcoulas AP, King WC. Drug- and alcohol-related mortality risk after bariatric surgery: Evidence from a 7-year prospective multicenter cohort study. Surg Obes Relat Dis. 2019;15(7):1160-1169.
This study demonstrated that drug- and alcohol-related mortality is significantly higher than expected in the 7 years following metabolic and bariatric surgery.
White GE, Shu I, Rometo D, Arnold J, Korytkowski M, Luo J. Real-world weight loss effectiveness of GLP-1 agonists among patients with type 2 diabetes: a retrospective cohort study. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2023;31(2):537-544.
This retrospective cohort study of more than 2400 patients with overweight or obesity and type 2 diabetes showed that starting a GLP-1 agonist at standard glycemic control doses was associated with modest weight loss.
White GE, Boles RE, Courcoulas AP, Yanovski SZ, Zeller MH, Jenkins TM, Inge TH. A prospective cohort of alcohol use and alcohol-related problems before and after metabolic and bariatric surgery in adolescents. Ann Surg. 2023;278(3):e519-e525.
Longitudinal analysis showing that nearly half of those who underwent metabolic and bariatric surgery as adolescents screened positively for Alcohol Use Disorder, symptoms of alcohol-related harm, or alcohol-related problems 8 years post-surgery, highlighting the risk for alcohol use and Alcohol Use Disorder after metabolic and bariatric surgery during adolescence.
Mayowski C, Meagher EA, Althouse AD, Patino-Sutton C, Thakar MS, Welch JL, Rubio DM, White GE. Continued impact of COVID-19 pandemic on clinical and translational science early-career researchers. J Clin Transl Sci. 2023; 7(1):e7.
Findings from this cluster-randomized controlled trial showed that the effects of the pandemic on early-career health researchers may be prolonged.
Click here for a more complete bibliography of Dr. White’s works.
Research Interests
- Career development
- Obesity
- Alcohol and substance use disorders
- Randomized controlled trials
- Longitudinal data analyses