Jennifer McClure, PhD
“We create programs and tools to empower people and help them lead healthier lives. By doing so, we can reduce the need for health care and the growing burden of health care costs for all.”
Jennifer McClure, PhD
Director, Investigative Science; Senior Investigator, Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute
Professor, Department of Health Systems Science, Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine
Jennifer.B.Mcclure@kp.org
206-287-2737
Biography
Jennifer McClure, PhD, is director of Investigative Science at Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI). She is also a senior investigator and clinical psychologist whose research focuses on developing new interventions to reduce people’s risk of chronic disease and cancer or help them better manage existing chronic disease through:
- Smoking cessation
- Dietary improvement
- Increased physical activity
- Treatment adherence
- Stress management
- Better oral health
- Informed decision-making
Much of Dr. McClure’s research emphasizes creating highly individualized behavioral treatments that can be disseminated on a population level, through health care systems and tobacco quitlines or directly to individuals via digital health tools, such as mobile health (mHealth) apps. Her goal is to design programs that are effective, convenient, engaging, and cost-effective, understanding that to make the leap from research to real world, interventions should meet these criteria.
Dr. McClure is best known for her research creating novel treatments for nicotine dependence, particularly interventions targeted to smokers who are ambivalent about quitting. These individuals may want to quit smoking some day, but are not yet ready to give up tobacco. Most smokers fall into this category, but few interventions are targeted to this important group. Her research has demonstrated the effectiveness of using proactive counseling and online interventions to motivate and support smoking cessation among ambivalent smokers. Her work has also shed light on the potential risks and benefits of using biological indicators of disease or disease risk to motivate quitting. Now she is developing two new mHealth apps to help ambivalent smokers kick the habit: one designed for anyone who smokes and one designed specifically for smokers living with HIV.
Dr. McClure’s collaborative research covers a range of topics from reducing sedentary behavior to comparing the effectiveness of various strategies for assessing and diagnosing high blood pressure.
In recognition of her scientific contributions, Dr. McClure was named a fellow in the Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM) in 2013 and a fellow in the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco in 2018. In 2019 she joined the faculty of the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J Tyson School of Medicine as a professor in Health Systems Science. Dr. McClure is also an affiliate professor of health services at the University of Washington School of Public Health and an affiliate investigator in the Division of Public Health Sciences at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. She currently serves as the Secretary and Treasurer of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco.
RESEARCH INTERESTS AND EXPERIENCE
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Behavior Change & Behavioral Medicine
Tobacco cessation; pharmocogenomics of nicotine addiction; treatment adherence; population-based behavior interventions; health risk communications; oral health promotion; dietary change; physical activity promotion; informed decision-making; psychoneuroimmunology; HIV
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Health Informatics & Digital Health
Development of eHealth and mHealth intervention tools
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Mental Health
Depression treatment and development of behavior change interventions for people with serious mental illness
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Cancer
Prevention
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Chronic Illness Management
HIV
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Addictions
Prevention and treatment
Recent publications
Rosenberg DE, Zhu W, Greenwood-Hickman MA, Cook AJ, Florez Acevedo S, McClure JB, Arterburn DE, Cooper J, Owen N, Dunstan D, Perry SR, Yarborough L, Mettert KD, Green BB. Sitting Time Reduction and Blood Pressure in Older Adults: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2024;7(3):e243234. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.3234. PubMed
Hall YN, Anderson ML, McClure JB, Ehrlich K, Hansell LD, Hsu CW, Margolis KL, Munson SA, Thompson MJ, Green BB. Relationship of blood pressure, health behaviors, and new diagnosis and control of hypertension in the BP-CHECK Study. Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes. 2024;17(2):e010119. doi: 10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.123.010119. Epub 2024 Feb 8. PubMed
Green BB, Anderson ML, Ehrlich K, Hall YN, Hansell LD, Hsu C, Margolis KL, McClure JB, Munson S, Thompson MJ. Is hypertension diagnostic testing and diagnosis associated with psychological distress? Am J Hypertens. 2023 Sep 9:hpad083. doi: 10.1093/ajh/hpad083. Online ahead of print. PubMed
McClure JB, Heffner JL, Krakauer C, Mun S, Klasnja P, Catz SL. Feasibility, acceptability, and potential impact of a novel mHealth app for smokers ambivalent about quitting: randomized pilot study. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2023 Jun 28;11:e46155. doi: 10.2196/46155. PubMed
Hsu C, Hansell L, Ehrlich K, Munson S, Anderson ML, Margolis KL, McClure JB, Hall J, Thompson MJ, Joseph D, Green BB. Primary care physician beliefs and practices regarding blood pressure measurement: Results from BP-CHECK qualitative interviews. BMC Prim Care. 2023 Jan 25;24(1):30. doi: 10.1186/s12875-022-01950-1. PubMed
Thompson MJ, Anderson ML, Cook AJ, Ehrlich K, Hall YN, Hsu C, Margolis KL, McClure JB, Munson SA, Green BB. Acceptability and adherence to home, kiosk, and clinic blood pressure measurement compared to 24-h ambulatory monitoring. J Gen Intern Med. 2023 Jan 17:1-8. doi: 10.1007/s11606-023-08036-3. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Green BB, Anderson ML, Ehrlich K, Hall YN, Hansell LD, Hsu C, Joseph D, Margolis KL, McClure JB, Munson SA, Thompson MJ. Blood pressure checks for diagnosing hypertension: Health professionals’ knowledge, beliefs, and practices. J Am Board Fam Med. 2022 Mar-Apr;35(2):310-319. doi: 10.3122/jabfm.2022.02.210318. PubMed
Green BB, Anderson ML, Cook AJ, Ehrlich K, Hall YN, Hsu C, Joseph D, Klasnja P, Margolis KL, McClure JB, Munson SA, Thompson MJ. Clinic, home, and kiosk blood pressure measurements for diagnosing hypertension: a randomized diagnostic study. J Gen Intern Med. 2022 Mar 3. doi: 10.1007/s11606-022-07400-z. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
McClure JB, Catz SL, Chalal C, Ciuffetelli R, Coggeshall S, DeFaccio RJ, Fleehart S, Heffner JL, Thompson E, Williams EC, Crothers K. Design and methods of a randomized trial testing the novel Wellness Intervention for Smokers Living with HIV (WISH). Contemp Clin Trials. 2021;110:106486. doi: 10.1016/j.cct.2021.106486. Epub 2021 Oct 27. PubMed
Rosenberg DE, Greenwood-Hickman MA, Zhou J, Cook AJ, Mettert KD, Cooper J, Arterburn D, Green BB, Walsh-Bailey C, Kerr J, Owen N, Dunstan D, McClure JB. Protocol for a randomized controlled trial of sitting reduction to improve cardiometabolic health in older adults. Contemp Clin Trials. 2021 Dec;111:106593. doi: 10.1016/j.cct.2021.106593. Epub 2021 Oct 16. PubMed
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