Cassidy M. White, PhD

Research Associate

Wake Forest School of Medicine

How do person-level factors, product characteristics, and context interact to affect the expected reinforcing value of a drug/product?

My research to date focuses on whether potential regulatory scenarios could facilitate switching from cigarettes to non-combusted nicotine products among people who currently smoke.

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RESEARCH INTERESTS

Anticipating how lowering nicotine content in cigarettes would change nicotine use patterns.
Understanding how potential e-cigarette regulations affect cigarette smoking behavior.
Measuring how health messaging contributes to smoking and vaping relative risk perceptions.
Using discrete choice experiments to understand how product characteristics factor into choice.
Improving the quality of data crowdsourced online.
Updating and extending theories of addiction.

training

EDUCATION

PhD, Neuroscience

Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC

August 2017 - February 2023

Coursework in neuroanatomy, pharmacology, cognitive neuroscience, developmental neuroscience, sensory/motor neuroscience, behavioral pharmacology, clinical trial methods, applied linear models, health disparities, scientific writing, scientific outreach, and research ethics.
Co-director: Health Equity in Neuroscience Journal Club; Facilitator: Evaluating the Brain Disease Model of Addiction Book Club

Bachelor of Arts, Psychology, summa cum laude

Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA

August 2010 - May 2014

Coursework in behavior analysis, social psychology, abnormal psychology, behavioral medicine, research methods, neuroscience, economics, human evolution, policy analysis, professional writing, and statistics.
Teaching Assistant and 1-on-1 Tutor: Introduction to Psychology

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

Research Associate, February 2023 - Present

Graduate Research Assistant, August 2017 - February 2023

PI: Eric Donny, PhD

Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC

Dissertation Award: NIDA R36DA054481. “The effect of context on the importance of nicotine content in choices between cigarettes and e-cigarettes.”
Training Grant Appointee: NIDA T32DA041349. “Neurobiology of Drug Abuse Training Program.”
Contributions to study conceptualization, protocol development, data collection, and manuscript writing for Project II: NIDA/FDA: U54DA031659. “Evaluating new nicotine standards for cigarettes.”

Undergraduate Research Assistant

PI: Andrea Tracy, PhD

Department of Psychology, Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA

May 2013 – May 2014

Completed an independent project investigating the effect of high-fat diet consumption on hippocampal dendritic structure and hippocampal-dependent behavior.

Undergraduate Research Assistant

PI: Peg Nopoulos, MD, PhD

Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics, Iowa City, IA

Summer 2011, 2012

Scored cognitive and motor tests from children with cleft lip and palate, and children and teens at risk for Huntington’s disease; computed brain-structure volumes from MRI images.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Component Affairs Coordinator
American Public Health Association, Washington, DC

July 2015 – July 2017

Coordinated engagement and recruitment initiatives for 33 special-interest groups within APHA.
Maintained reports on all groups’ budget allocations, financial transactions, and grant activity.
Helped organize local and national meetings, bringing together diverse public health professionals to address new research, policy, and advocacy efforts.

Membership Marketing Assistant
Food and Drug Law Institute, Washington, DC

November 2014 – July 2015

Fielded day-to-day member inquires and generated membership engagement/retention reports.
Marketed continuing education opportunities to legal professionals in the pharmaceutical, food, tobacco, medical device and cosmetics industries.

PUBLICATIONS

Denlinger-Apte, RL, White, CM, & Donny, EC. (2024). What to expect from a low-nicotine product standard for cigarettes: A response to “denicotinized” tobacco. JAMA. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2024.23371

White, CM, Tessier, KM, Koopmeiners, JS, Denlinger-Apte, RL, Cobb, CO, Lane, T, Campos, CL, Spangler, JG, Hatsukami, DK, Strasser, AA, Donny, EC, 2022. Preliminary evidence on cigarette nicotine reduction with concurrent access to an e-cigarette: Manipulating cigarette nicotine content, e-liquid nicotine content, and e-liquid flavor availability. Preventive Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2022.107213

Breland, AB, Carroll, DM, Denlinger-Apte, RL, Ross, JC, Soto, C, White, CM, Donny, EC, Fagan, P, Gardiner, P, Eissenberg, T, Guy, MC, (2022). Centering racial justice for Black/African American and Indigenous American people in commercial tobacco product regulation. Preventive Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2022.107117

White, CM, Watson, C, Bravo Cardenas, R, Ngac, P, Valentin-Blasini, L, Blount, BC, Koopmeiners, JS, Denlinger-Apte, RL, Pacek, LR, Benowitz, NL, Hatsukami, DK, Donny, EC, Carpenter, MJ, Smith, TT, (2022). Early changes in puffing intensity when exclusively using open-label very low nicotine content cigarettes. Nicotine & Tobacco Research. https://doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntac118

Differding M, Katz SJ, Strayer LG, White, CM, Strasser, AS, Donny, ED, Hatsukami, DH, Carroll, DM (2022). Educating the public on the health risks of very low nicotine content cigarettes: results from a U.S.-based convenience sample. Nicotine & Tobacco Research. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntac010

Donny EC, White CM (2021). A review of the evidence on cigarettes with reduced addictiveness potential.
International Journal of Drug Policy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2021.103436

Denlinger-Apte, RL, White, CM, Donny, EC, Hatsukami, DK, Benowitz, NL, Carpenter, MJ, & Smith, TT (2021). “I actually finally feel like the cigarettes aren’t controlling me.” – Interviews with participants smoking very low nicotine content cigarettes during a residential study. Drug and Alcohol Dependence. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2020.108465

Carroll, DM, Denlinger-Apte, RL, Dermody, SS, King, JL, Mercincavage, M, Pacek, LR, Smith, TT, Tripp, HL, White, CM (2020). Polarization Within the Field of Tobacco and Nicotine Science and its Potential Impact on Trainees. Nicotine & Tobacco Research. https://doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntaa148

White, CM, Hatsukami, DK, Donny, EC, (2020). Reducing the relative value of cigarettes: Considerations for nicotine and non-nicotine factors. Neuropharmacology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropharm.2020.108200

Smith, TT, Koopmeiners, JS, White, CM, Denlinger-Apte, RL, Pacek, LR, De Jesús, VR, Wang, L., Watson, C, Blount,BC, Hatsukami, DK, Benowitz, NL, Donny, EC, Carpenter, MJ, (2020). The Impact of Exclusive Use of Very Low Nicotine Cigarettes on Compensatory Smoking: An Inpatient Crossover Clinical Trial. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. https://doi.org/10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-19-0963

White, CM, Pickworth, WB, Sved, AF, Donny, EC, (2019). Using Product Standards to Render the Most Harmful Tobacco Products Minimally Addictive: Maximum Nicotine Level, Non-Nicotine Constituents, and Scope. Nicotine & Tobacco Research. https://doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntz121

Smith, TT, Hatsukami, DK, Benowitz, NL, Colby, SM, McClernon, FJ, Strasser, AA, Tidey, JW, White, CM, Donny, EC, (2018). Whether to push or pull? Nicotine reduction and non-combusted alternatives - Two strategies for reducing smoking and improving public health. Preventive Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2018.03.021

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PRESENTATIONS AND POSTERS

White, CM, Tessier KM, Lockhart, DE, Koopmeiners, JS, Hatsukami, DL, Donny, EC, DenlingerApte, RL. (March 2025) The impact of e-liquid nicotine concentration on very low nicotine content cigarette purchasing: Insights from an experimental tobacco marketplace study. Poster for the Annual Meeting of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, New Orleans, LA.

White, CM, Tessier KM, Lockhart, DE, Koopmeiners, JS, Hatsukami, DL, Donny, EC, DenlingerApte, RL. (March 2024) E-liquid flavor availability significantly affects cigarette purchasing in an experimental marketplace simulating a low nicotine product standard. Poster for the Annual Meeting of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, Edinburgh, Scotland.

White, CM, Donny EC. (March 2024). Twelve-hour abstinence changes the relative importance of product features in hypothetical choices between cigarettes and e-cigarettes: A discrete choice experiment. Poster for the Annual Meeting of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, Edinburgh, Scotland.

White, CM, Donny, EC. (March 2023). Choosing to smoke or vape: The relative importance of product type, cigarette nicotine content, vape nicotine content, and vape flavor availability varies by hypothetical context in discrete choice experiments. Poster for the Annual Meeting of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, San Antonio, TX.

White, CM, Donny, EC. (February 2022). A closer look at how cigarette nicotine content, e-liquid nicotine content and e-liquid flavor availability contribute to choices between smoking and vaping: Evidence from an online discrete choice experiment. Poster for the Annual Meeting of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, Baltimore, MD.

White, CM, Donny, EC. (February 2022). How absolute harm information, relative harm information and combinations of both affect e-cigarette harm perceptions and message credibility among people who smoke daily. Poster for the Annual Meeting of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, Baltimore, MD.

White, CM. Nicotine dosing and toxicity: How much nicotine is too much nicotine? (January 2022). Lecture to Addiction Medicine Residents, Wake Forest Baptist Hospital, Winston-Salem, NC.

White, CM. (September 2021). Maximizing the quality of nicotine use data crowdsourced online. Incubation Hour Presentation for the Wake Forest Tobacco Control Center of Excellence.

White, CM, Denlinger-Apte, RL, Tessier, KM, Koopmeiners, JS, Hatsukami, DK, Strasser, AA, Donny, EC (February 2021). Cigarette nicotine reduction in the presence of an alternative: Investigating how cigarette nicotine content and e-liquid nicotine content affect smoking. Symposium Presentation for the Annual Meeting of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, virtual.

White, CM, Koopmeiners, JS, Denlinger-Apte, RL, Pacek, LR, Benowitz, NL, Hatsukami, DK, Donny, EC, Carpenter, MJ, Smith, TT (February 2021). Early changes in smoking intensity among smokers exclusively using open-label very low nicotine content cigarettes. Poster for the Annual Meeting of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, virtual.

White, CM, Denlinger-Apte, RL, Tessier, KM, Koopmeiners, JS, Hatsukami, DK, Strasser, AA, Donny, EC (October 2020). Cigarette nicotine reduction in the presence of an alternative: Investigating how cigarette nicotine content and e-liquid nicotine content affect smoking. Poster for Tobacco Centers of Regulatory Science (TCORS) Meeting, virtual.

White CM, Donny EC (March 2019). Communicating relative harm: The impact of varying the presence and position of relative harm information on perceptions in an online sample. Poster for the Annual Meeting of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, Baltimore, MD.

White CM, Donny EC (October 2019). Varying the presence and position of relative and absolute harm information. Poster presented at 2019 NIH TRS Meeting, Bethesda, MD.

White CM, Benowitz NL, Hatsukami DK, Murphy SE, Strasser AA, Donny EC (February 2019). The effects of nicotine metabolism on outcomes among smokers enrolled in a randomized clinical trial of reduced-nicotine cigarettes. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, San Francisco, CA.

White, CM. (April 2018). Genetic information can help smokers quit. “Pop talk” Presentation given at ComSciCon Triangle Workshop, RTI International, Durham, NC.

White, CM. (November 2014). The effect of high-fat diet consumption on hippocampal dendritic spine density and spatial memory performance. Poster presented at the Undergraduate Research Poster Session at the national meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, Washington, DC.

White, CM. (May 2014). The doctor-patient relationship’s benefit to physical health. Poster and Podcast Episode presented at the annual Senior Literature Review Poster Session, Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA.

White, CM, Wiese, CL, Tracy, AL. (September 2013). Physiological effects of a chronic high-fat diet and leptin administration on the hippocampus. Poster presented during Neuroscience Concentration Symposium, Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA.

AWARDS & HONORS

Scholarship Recipient, Professional Education Course on Discrete Choice Experiments, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (June 2019).
Travel Award Recipient, Tobacco Control Center of Excellence, Wake Forest University School of Medicine (February 2019).
Honor-G Award Recipient: Recognized as the graduating student-athlete with the highest GPA, Grinnell College (May 2014).
Dean’s List, Grinnell College (all eligible semesters).
Inductee, Psi Chi National Honor Society (October 2013).
Bowen Scholarship Recipient: Awarded $100,000 merit scholarship, Grinnell College (May 2010).

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

Society of Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT)
Students for Sensible Drug Policy (Policy Director, Wake Forest chapter)
Science Communicators of North Carolina
North Carolina Triad ComSciCon
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
American Public Health Association (APHA)

SERVICE AND OUTREACH

Present

Reviewer, Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
Reviewer, Drug and Alcohol Dependence
Reviewer, BMC Journal of Public Health
Reviewer, Tobacco Control
Reviewer, Nicotine and Tobacco Research

Past

Social Media Manager, Wake Forest University Neuroscience Graduate Programs, August 2021 – May 2023.
Volunteer, Twin City Harm Reduction, Winston-Salem, NC, January 2021 – March 2023.
Volunteer, North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition, Raleigh, NC, January 2019 – January 2020.
Founding Member and Policy Director, WFUSOM Students for Sensible Drug Policy, December 2019 – May 2023.
Abstract Reviewer, Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco Annual Meeting, August 2019 – Present.
Member, Wake Forest University Brain-Awareness Council, January 2019 – December 2019.
Classroom Assistant, “Brain Food” Youth Cooking Classes, Washington, DC, October 2015 – May 2017.
Mentor, “Teens Run DC” Youth Development Program, Washington, DC, August 2014 – June 2015.
Outreach Intern, West Africa AIDS Foundation, Accra, Ghana, January 2013 – May 2013.