Administrative Contact
[email protected]
Dr. White is a board certified clinical health psychologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Minnesota. She earned her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of South Florida and completed a 2-year postdoctoral fellowship in primary care behavioral health in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at the University of Minnesota. Prior to joining the University of Minnesota, Dr. White worked as an integrated primary care psychologist at Hennepin Healthcare. Dr. White specializes in health psychology and behavioral medicine with clinical expertise in stress, anxiety, and the biopsychosocial aspects of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and weight management concerns. She also has a passion for health equity and social justice. Dr. White’s primary area of interest is in the overlap among health psychology, behavioral medicine, and environmental sustainability. Specifically, she is interested in taking an environmental justice perspective to promote equitable human and environmental co-benefit solutions, using her academic training as a stress researcher to guide her work.
*Epel, E. S., *White, K. E., Brownell, K. D., Rodin, J., Hollis, A. L., Diefenbach, M. A., Alegria, K. E., Fromer, E., Czajkowski, S. M., Bacon, S. L., Revenson, T. A., Ruiz, J., Maibach, E., & Behavioral Medicine Research Council (2025). Transforming health psychology and behavioral medicine to address the climate crisis: A call for strategic research and advocacy. Health Psychology, 44(6), 563–577. https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0001431.
*Denotes co-first authorship
NOTE: This BMRC position statement was simultaneously published in Health Psychology, Annals of Behavioral Medicine, and Biopsychosocial Science and Medicine
*White, K. E., *Nogueira, L. M., & *Oyeyemi, A. L. (2024). Promoting Equitable Human and Planetary Health Co-Benefits: An Opportunity for U.S. Leadership. Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 12(1), 20-27. https://doi.org/10.1177/23727322241303885.
*Denotes co-first authorship
Doherty, T., Artman, S., Homan, J., Keluskar, J., & White, K. E. (2024). Environmental identity-based therapies for climate distress: Applying cognitive behavioural approaches. The Cognitive Behaviour Therapist, 17, e29. doi:10.1017/S1754470X24000278
Adams, E. L. (Lead Author), Figueroa, R., White, K. E., Bell, B. M., Alegria, K., Yaroch, A. L. (2024). Prioritize “Food is Medicine” initiatives in the 2024 Farm Bill for human and planetary health. Translational Behavioral Medicine(ibad083). https://doi.org/10.1093/tbm/ibad083,
Nogueira, L. M. & White, K. E. (2023). Environmental Justice, Equity, and Cancer. Chapter in Bernicker, E. H. (ed) Environmental Oncology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33750-5_9.,
Mezuk, B., Sin, N. L., Stanton, M. V., Szabo, Y. Z., Tomiyama, A. J., & White, K. E. (2023). The American Psychosomatic Society Antiracism Task Force: Implementation, Activities, and Lessons Learned. Psychosomatic Medicine, 85(6):p 466-473. https://doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0000000000001222,
Pearson, A. R., White, K. E., Nogueira, L. M., Lewis, N. A., Green, D. J., Schuldt, J. P., & Edmondson, D. (2023). Climate change and health equity: A research agenda for psychological science. The American psychologist, 78(2), 244–258. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0001074,
Salomon, K., Beatty Moody, D. L., White, K. E., & Darden, T. M. (2022). Childhood Factors in Adult Risk for Cardiovascular Disease. Chapter in S. R. Waldstein, W. J. Kop, E. C. Suarez, W. R. Lovallo, & L. I. Katzel (Eds). Handbook of Cardiovascular Behavioral Medicine.,
*Nogueira, L. & *White, K. E., Bell, B., Alegria, K. E., Bennett, G., Edmondson, D., Epel, E., Holman, E. A., Kronish, I. M., & Thayer, J. (2022). The role of behavioral medicine in addressing climate change-related health inequities. Translational Behavioral Medicine. *Denotes co-first authorship,
Doherty, T. J., Lykins, A. D., Piotrowski, N. A., Rogers, Z., Sebree Jr., D. D., & White, K. E. (2022). Clinical Psychology Responses to the Climate Crisis. Chapter in G. Asmundson (Ed). Comprehensive Clinical Psychology, 2nd Edition.,
White, K. E., Mayhew, L. L., Sacco, W. A. (2015). Diabetes. Chapter in T. Hadjistavropoulos & H. D. Hadjistavropoulos (Eds). Fundamentals of Health Psychology.,
Unrod, M., Gironda, R. J., Clark, M. E., White, K. E., Simmons, V. N., Sutton, S. K., & Brandon, T. H. (2014). Smoking behavior and motivation to quit among chronic pain patients initiating multidisciplinary pain treatment: A prospective study. Pain Medicine, 15(8), 1294-1303. ,
Salomon, K., Bylsma, L. M., White, K. E., Panaite, V., & Rottenberg, J. (2013). Is blunted cardiovascular reactivity mood-state dependent? A comparison of Major Depressive Disorder, remitted depression and healthy controls. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 90(1), 50-57.,
Sacco, W.P., Bykowski, C. A., Mayhew, L., & White, K. E. (2012). Educational Attainment Moderates the Effect of a Brief Diabetes Intervention. Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice, 95(1), 62-67. ,
Groer, M., Murphy, R., Bunnell, W., Salomon, K., Van Eepoel, J., Rankin, B., White, K. E., & Bykowski, C. A. (2010). Salivary measures of stress and immunity in police officers engaged in simulated critical incident scenarios. Journal of Occupational Medicine, 52(6), 595-602.,
American Psychological Association (APA)
Society of Clinical Psychology (APA Division 12)
Society for Environmental, Population, & Conservation Psychology (APA Division 34)
Society for Health Psychology (APA Division 38)
Society for the Psychological Study of Culture, Ethnicity and Race (APA Division 45)
Association of Psychologists in Academic Health Centers
Health Professionals for a Healthy Climate
Minnesota Psychological Association
Society of Behavioral Medicine
Society for Biopsychosocial Science and Medicine
Stress reduction, anxiety management, health promotion and disease prevention, inflammatory illness, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, weight management, physical and mental health impacts of climate change, and health benefits of climate solutions.