Karen works as a Senior Research Fellow in SHTAC.
Since joining SHTAC as a Research Fellow in July 2011, Karen has worked on systematic reviews across a range of healthcare and health promotion topics, including a highly cited Cochrane review of the effectiveness of weight loss surgery for adults. Karen has a research interest in health promotion in schools, and while working for SHTAC, she has carried out research into teacher training to promote health and well-being in schools. Karen has additionally contributed to SHTAC’s work for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) Single Technology Appraisal (STA) and Diagnostics Assessments programmes. She has contributed to or led the production of a number of External Assessment Group (EAG) reports evaluating pharmaceutical companies’ STA evidence submissions to NICE; SHTAC's EAG reports help inform NICE Committtees' decisions about the use of new drugs in the NHS. She has also delivered sessions on SHTAC’s Introduction to Systematic Reviews in Health training course.
Karen has a BSc (Hons) in Psychology from the University of Exeter, an MSc in Research Methods in Psychology from the University of Surrey and a PhD in Psychology from the University of Southampton. Karen started her research career working as a Research Training Fellow in the then Primary Medical Care department at the University of Southampton in 2004. As part of this role, she completed her PhD which sought to identify potential mechanisms that may explain how and why physical activity may benefit depression. Karen then worked at the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) between 2008 and 2011, where she worked on a range of educational research projects, including evaluations of health promotion interventions in schools. Karen’s main research interests are in mental health, health education, school-based health promotion and health technology assessment. Please note, Karen published as Karen White until 2012.
Qualifications:
BSc (Hons) in Psychology, University of Exeter (2000)
MSc in Research Methods in Psychology, University of Surrey (2003)
PhD in Psychology, University of Southampton (2008)