Tonya White

Tonya White is a Full Professor at Erasmus MC in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry / Psychology, Faculty of Medicine. She is a leading researcher in pediatric neuroscience and psychiatric disorders, with a strong emphasis on brain development and neuroimaging techniques such as MRI.

Her research interests span neuroscience, child and adolescent psychiatry, brain development, psychopathology, eating disorders (particularly anorexia nervosa), ADHD, and neuroimaging. She employs population-based MRI studies to investigate cortical thickness, brain morphology, and functional connectivity in children and adolescents.

The recent trends in her publications (2025) highlight a consistent focus on pediatric brain development, anorexia nervosa, avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder, and genetic and environmental influences on brain structure. Her work frequently involves large-scale neuroanatomical analyses and integrates genetic risk scores with neuroimaging data.

She has presented her research in academic oral presentations, including topics on childhood aggressive behavior and cortical thickness, and the cognitive correlates of lying in children. Her work has received significant attention, being picked up by over 149 news outlets and discussed across social media platforms like X and Bluesky, as well as on Reddit and Mendeley.

Tonya White has supervised 15 research projects or students, indicating an active mentoring role. While no specific grants are listed, her high publication output and collaborative research suggest involvement in major research programs. She is affiliated with a prominent research fingerprint that includes Brain Development (100%), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (71%), Amygdala (60%), and Anorexia Nervosa (42%).