Lauren White

Lauren White joined the University of Washington School of Social Work faculty in 2025.  As an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, her research focuses on mental health in Indigenous communities. She investigates the social and cultural determinants of mental wellness, strengths-based prevention, and community-driven, evidence-based interventions for American Indians and Alaska Native (AIAN) communities.

White blends participatory research approaches, such as Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR), with Implementation Science methods to explore how Indigenous communities put evidence-based mental health practices to use, building mental health equity on their own terms. Her work has been supported by the Research for Indigenous Social Action  Equity (RISE) Center, the Institute for Social Research (ISR), and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). As a co-investigator on multiple NIH-funded intervention studies, she leads implementation research in collaboration with rural AIAN Tribes. With Implementation Science, she aims to accelerate the translation of research evidence into everyday use in AIAN communities and support Tribal decision-makers in sustaining impactful mental health programs.

Dr. White is a licensed clinical social worker and a practicing therapist at the Women’s Center of Southeastern Michigan. Her clinical work informs her commitment to bridging research and practice to implement culturally responsive, community-driven mental health interventions.

White received an MPH from the University of Washington School of Public Health. She earned her doctoral degree from the University of Michigan Joint Program for Social Work and Psychology, the same institution that granted her an MSW.