Jennifer Whitehill

Associate Professor of Health Policy and Management
Graduate Program Director, Department of Health Promotion and Policy

Injury prevention; substance use; cannabis policy; social media; mobile technology and health (mHealth)

Contact

Email: jmw [at] umass [dot] edu

Phone: (413) 545-1923

Location

Arnold House

715 North Pleasant Street
Amherst, MA 01003
United States

338 Arnold House

My research centers on preventing both intentional and unintentional injuries, especially among youth and young adults. My work examines substance use (cannabis, alcohol, and other drugs) and a range of outcomes, including motor vehicle crashes, depression, and youth violence. My current projects relate to relationships between cannabis policies and a variety of health and social outcomes. I’m particularly interested in the ways that such policies negatively or positively impact health equity and social determinants of health. I use mixed methods, incorporating qualitative and quantitative research approaches.

Education

Postdoctoral Fellowship, University of Washington, 2011-2013
PhD, Johns Hopkins University, 2011
BS, Tufts University, 2004

In the Media

Cannabis-Related Poison Control Calls About Kids Increase (WAMC Northeast Public Radio)

Poison Center Calls Spike After mMedical mMarijuana Legalized (Medscape)

Study Finds One in Five Massachusetts Adults Recently Consumed Marijuana (New England Public Radio)

Why Do More Teens Report Driving Stoned Than Drunk? (Boston Globe)

UMass Researchers Contribute to Key Statewide Marijuana Study (Daily Hampshire Gazette)

Key Publications

Whitehill JM, Trangenstein P, Jenkins MC, Jernigan DH, Moreno MA. Exposure to cannabis marketing in social and traditional media and past-year use among adolescents in states with legal retail cannabis. Journal of Adolescent Health. 2019 Nov. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6980270/

Whitehill JM, Harrington C*, Lang CJ, Chary M, Bhutta WA, Burns MM. Marijuana-related exposures among youth age 0-19 years before and after medical marijuana legalization in Massachusetts. JAMA Network Open. 2019 Aug 16. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.9456

Whitehill JM, Wilner M, Rataj S, Moreno MA. College students’ use of transportation network companies: An opportunity to decrease substance-impaired driving. Journal of American College Health. 2018 Sep 21:1-4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6428618/

Whitehill JM, Rodriguez-Monguio R, Doucette M*, Flom EA. Driving and riding under the influence of recent marijuana use: Risk factors among a racially diverse sample of young adults. Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse. 2018 Feb. 2019 Oct-Dec; 18(4):594-612. PMID: 29432083.

Select Government reports:

Thomas FD, Berning A, Darrah J, Graham L, Blomberg R, Griggs C, Crandall M, Schulman C, Kozar R, Neavyn M, Cunningham, K., Ehsani, J, Fell J, Whitehill J, Babu K, Lai J, and Rayner M. (2020 October). Drug and alcohol prevalence in seriously and fatally injured road users before and during the COVID-19 public health emergency (Report No. DOT HS 813 018). National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/50941

Whitehill JM, Geissler KG, Doonan SM, Johnson JK. Special Report: Evaluating the Impact of Cannabis Legalization in Massachusetts—State of the Data. Boston, MA: Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission. https://mass-cannabis-control.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/RR5-Special-Report-Evaluating-the-Impact-of-Cannabis-Legalization-in-MA-State-of-the-Data-Nov-2019-2.pdf