Using Incentives to Curb Tabacco Use. Policy and Behavioral Insights.

Justin White, PhD
Associate Professor of Health Economics
UCSF School of Medicine
Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Justin White, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Health Economics in the UCSF School of Medicine, with joint appointments in the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies and the Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics. He studies the role of incentives in promoting healthy behavior, informed by research from the field of behavioral economics. Much of his work focuses on chronic disease prevention, notably smoking cessation, both in the US and in low- and middle-income countries. His work draws on a variety of methodological approaches, including randomized interventional trials and quasi-experimental econometric techniques. Recent and ongoing projects involve evaluations of tobacco and sugar-sweetened beverage taxes, "gamification" in a smoking cessation smartphone app, and school competitions to prevent smoking.