Paul A. Landsbergis, PhD, EdD, MPH

Academic Qualifications:

• PhD: Columbia University
• EdD: Rutgers University
• MPH: Columbia University

Background and Expertise:

Dr. Landsbergis is an Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences. He holds a PhD in Epidemiology from Columbia University and an EdD in Labor Studies from Rutgers University. His research focuses on socioeconomic position, work organization, work stress, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, psychological disorders and musculoskeletal disorders. Dr. Landsbergis is a co-editor of "The Workplace and Cardiovascular Disease" (Hanley & Belfus, 2000), the first textbook on this subject, and "Unhealthy Work" (Baywood, 2009). He is also a co-author of comprehensive reviews of studies on job strain and cardiovascular disease, on new systems of work organization and worker health, and on interventions to reduce job stress and improve health. Dr. Landsbergis was a member of the National Research Council’s Committee on the Health and Safety Needs of Older Workers, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health's Intervention Effectiveness Research Team, and co-chair of the 4th International Conference on Work Environment and Cardiovascular Disease (in 2005). He is Deputy Editor of the American Journal of Industrial Medicine.

Area of Study:

Work Organization, Socioeconomic Status, Stress and Health

Dr. Landsbergis combines a research focus on occupational stress and health with expertise in education and training on occupational safety and health and occupational stress. With graduate training in psychology, labor studies and epidemiology, Dr. Landsbergis came to Downstate after two decades of work at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Cornell University Medical College and the Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

Dr. Landsbergis has been the principal investigator of research projects that examined the impact of work organization on a variety of health outcomes, including hypertension, cardiovascular disease, musculoskeletal disorders, and psychological disorders.

Dr. Landsbergis is a member of the International Board of the Job Content Questionnaire, and was a member of the National Research Council's Committee on the Health and Safety Needs of Older Workers, and a co-editor of the first textbook on "The Workplace and Cardiovascular Disease". With colleagues at UCLA and UC Irvine, he developed and taught new courses on Occupational Health Psychology and Occupational Cardiology, and helped to develop a website on occupational stress and social epidemiology: www.workhealth.org. Dr. Landsbergis was co-chair of the 4th International Conference on the Work Environment and Cardiovascular Diseases, sponsored by the International Congress of Occupational Health (ICOH), Los Angeles, California, March 9-11, 2005.

Research interests:

The epidemiologic study of occupational stress, work organization, psychosocial factors, socioeconomic status, cardiovascular disease and the changing nature of work - including current trends such as downsizing, outsourcing, restructuring, part-time and temporary work, and increasing work hours and job demands.

The measurement of blood pressure while employees are working as a biological marker of stress. 'While working" blood pressure measurements help to identify individuals with masked hypertension, a potentially large group of individuals with normal clinic blood pressure but elevated blood pressure at work.

Other research interests include occupational health psychology, occupational health and safety, occupational epidemiology, ergonomics, social epidemiology and health disparities.

Complete references and link to NCBI abstracts »

• Landsbergis P, Dobson M, LaMontagne A, Choi BK, Schnall PL, Baker D. Occupational Stress. In Levy B, Wegman D, Baron S, Sokas R (Eds.) Occupational and Environmental Health (7th edition). Oxford University Press 2017 (in press).
• Landsbergis P, Zoeckler J, Rivera B, Alexander D, Bahruth A, Hord W. Organizational Interventions to Reduce Sources of K-12 Teachers’ Occupational Stress. In McIntyre TM, McIntyre SE, Francis DJ. Stress in educators: An occupational health perspective. Springer 2017 (in press).
• Schnall PL, Dobson M, Landsbergis PA. Globalization, work and cardiovascular disease. International Journal of Health Services 2016;46(4):656-92.
• Landsbergis PA, Diez-Roux AV, Fujishiro K, Baron S, Kaufman JD, Meyer JD, Koutsouras G, Shimbo D, Shrager S, Stukovsky KH, Szklo M. Job strain, occupational category and hypertension prevalence: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 2015;57(11):1178-1184 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4636023).
• Landsbergis P, Grzywacz JG, LaMontagne A. Work organization, job insecurity, and occupational health disparities. American Journal of Industrial Medicine 2014;57:495–515.
• Landsbergis PA, Dobson M, Koutsouras G, Schnall P. Job strain and ambulatory blood pressure: a meta-analysis and systematic review. American Journal of Public Health 2013;103(3):e61-e71.
• Landsbergis PA, Janevic T, Adamu MT, Rothenberg L, Johnson S, Mirer F. Disability rates for cardiovascular and psychological disorders among autoworkers by job category, facility type and facility overtime hours. American Journal of Industrial Medicine 2013;56(7):755–764.
• Landsbergis PA, Travis A, Schnall P. Working conditions and masked hypertension. High Blood Pressure and Cardiovascular Prevention 2013;20:69-76.
• Landsbergis PA. The changing organization of work and the safety and health of working people. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 2003;45(1):61-72.
• Landsbergis PA, Schnall PL, Pickering TG, Warren K, Schwartz JE. Life course exposure to job strain and ambulatory blood pressure among men. American Journal of Epidemiology 2003;157(11):998-1006.
• Landsbergis PA, Schnall PL, Pickering TG, Warren K, Schwartz JE. Is the effect of job strain on blood pressure greater for men with lower socioeconomic status? Scandinavian Journal of Work Environment and Health 2003;29(3):206-215.
• LaMontagne AD, Keegel T, Louie AM, Ostry A, Landsbergis PA. A systematic review of the job stress intervention evaluation literature: 1990-2005. International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health2007;13(3) 268-280.
• Fang S, Herbert R, Dropkin J, Triola D, Landsbergis PA. Workers' compensation experiences of computer users with musculoskeletal disorders. American Journal of Industrial Medicine 2007;50:512-8.
• Landsbergis PA, Schnall P, Schwartz J, Baker D, Belkic K, Pickering T. Working conditions and masked (hidden) hypertension: Insights into the global epidemic of hypertension. Scandinavian Journal of Work Environment and Health Suppl 2008;(6):41-51.
• Landsbergis PA. Assessing the contribution of working conditions to socioeconomic disparities in health: a commentary. American Journal of Industrial Medicine 2010;53:95–103.
• Landsbergis PA, Sinclair R, Dobson M, Hammer LB, Jauregui M, LaMontagne AD, Olson R, Schnall PL, Stellman J, Warren N. Occupational Health Psychology (pp. 1086-1130). In Anna D (ed.) The Occupational Environment: Its Evaluation, Control, and Management (3rd edition). Fairfax, VA: American Industrial Hygiene Association, 2011.
• Sorensen G, Landsbergis PA, Hammer L, Amick B, Linnan L, Yancey A, Welch L, Goetzel R, Flannery K, Pratt C and the Workshop Working Group on Worksite Chronic Disease Prevention. Preventing Chronic Disease At the Workplace: A Workshop Report and Recommendations. American Journal of Public Health (Published online ahead of print August 18, 2011: e1–e12. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2010.300075)
• Schnall PS, Belkic K, Landsbergis PA, Baker D (eds.). The workplace and cardiovascular disease. Occupational Medicine: State of the Art Reviews 2000;15(1).
• Schnall P, Rosskam E, Dobson M, Gordon D, Landsbergis PA, Baker D (eds.) Unhealthy Work: Causes, Consequences and Cures. Amityville, NY: Baywood Publishing, 2009.