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Peter Schnall, M.D., M.P.H.

Peter Schnall
Professor

Departments

DepartmentsType of Faculty
Environmental Health SciencesOutside Faculty
Expertise: 
Occupational Stress
Contact Information
Phone: 
(949) 824-8641
Fax: 
(949) 824-2345
Email: 
pschnall@uci.edu

University of California, Irvine
Center for Occupational & Environmental Health
5201 California Avenue, Suite 100
Irvine, CA 92617

Areas of Interest: 

Psychosocial factors in the workplace, Cardiovascular Disease

Dr. Schnall directs the UCI COEH program in work organization and cardiovascular disease. He is a recognized expert on the role of occupational stress in causing hypertension and cardiovascular disease. His research includes designing and directing the Cornell University Work Site Ambulatory Blood Pressure Study, which demonstrated a significant association between psychosocial stress (i.e., job strain defined as jobs with high demands and low control) and ambulatory blood pressure and increased cardiac left ventricular mass. Recently, the study has documented a significant association between job strain and ambulatory blood pressure in a prospective cohort study of workingmen in multiple occupations.

In addition, Dr. Schnall is the Director of a non-profit foundation, the Center for Social Epidemiology, based in Santa Monica, California. One of the principal activities of the Center for Social Epidemiology is the website "The Job Stress Network", located at www.workhealth.org, which has recently developed a section on Occupational Cardiology.

Finally, Dr. Schnall and the Center for Social Epidemiology coordinate the California Work and Health Study Group. The CWHSG is a statewide network of researchers who have met nine times during the past three years to present and discuss research on workplace organization, job stress, and participatory research. Among the objectives of the CWHSG is for researchers to share their experiences and to identify new avenues of research to improve workplace organization in order to achieve a more healthful workplace

Education: 
M.D., Stanford University
M.P.H., University of Pennsylvania
B.A., Columbia University
Selected Publications: 
Schnall PL, Belkic KL, Landsbergis PA, Baker DB, eds: The Workplace and Cardiovascular Disease. Occup Med 15(1), 2000.
Belkic KL, Landsbergis PA, Schnall Pl, Baker D. Is job strain a major source of cardiovascular disease risk? A critical review of the empirical evidence, with a clinical perspective. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health 2004;30(2):85-128.
Landsbergis PA, Schnall PL, Pickering TG, Warren K, Schwartz JE. Lower socioeconomic status among men in relation to the association between job strain and blood pressure. Scand J Work Environ Health 2003;29(3):206-215.
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;107:998-1006.
Landsbergis PA, Schnall PL, Pickering TG, Schwartz, JE. Validity and reliability of a Work History Questionnaire derived from the Job Content Questionnaire. J Occup Environ Med. 2002;44:1037-1047.
Landsbergis PA, Schnall PL, Belkic K, Baker D, Schwartz JE, Pickering TG. Work stress and cardiovascular disease. Work: A Journal of Assessment and Prevention 2001;17:191-208.
Friedman R, Schwartz JE, Schnall PL, Pieper CF, Gerin W, Landsbergis PA, Pickering TG. Psychological Variables in Hypertension: Relationship to Casual or Ambulatory Blood Pressure in Men. Psychosomatic Medicine 2001;63(1):19-31.
Schnall PL, Schwartz JE, Landsbergis PA, Belkic KL, Pickering TG. Job Strain findings in the Cornell University Work Site Blood Pressure Study: A review. J. Tokyo Med. Univ. 2000;58(3): 367-376.
Schnall PL. Hypertension: Could lowering job strain be a specific theraputic modality? In: Schnall PL, Belkic KL, Landsbergis PA, Baker DB, eds: The Workplace and Cardiovascular Disease. Occup Med 15(1):233-245, 2000.
Schnall PL, Belkic KL, Landsbergis PA, Schwartz JE, Gerber LM, Baker D, Pickering TG. Hypertension at the workplace - often an occult disease: The relevance and potential in Japan for work site surveillance? The Japanese Journal of Stress Sciences 2000;15(3).
Schnall PL, Belkic KL, Landsbergis PA, Baker DB. Why the workplace and cardiovascular disease? In: Schnall PL, Belkic KL, Landsbergis PA, Baker DB, eds: The Workplace and Cardiovascular Disease. Occup Med 15(1):1-5, 2000.
Schnall PL, Belkic KL. Obtaining a CVD history: Obstacles and challenges. In: Schnall PL, Belkic KL, Landsbergis PA, Baker DB, eds: The Workplace and Cardiovascular Disease. Occup Med 15(1):189-190, 2000.
Schnall PL, Belkic KL. Point estimates of blood pressure at the worksite. In: Schnall PL, Belkic KL, Landsbergis PA, Baker DB, eds: The Workplace and Cardiovascular Disease. Occup Med 15(1):203-208, 2000.
Belkic KL, Schnall PL, Savic C, Landsbergis PA. Multiple exposures: A model of total occupational burden. In: Schnall PL, Belkic KL, Landsbergis PA, Baker DB, eds: The Workplace and Cardiovascular Disease. Occup Med 15(1):94-98, 2000.
Belkic KL, Schnall PL, Ugljesic M Cardiovascular evaluation of the worker and workplace: A practical guide for clinicians. In: Schnall PL, Belkic KL, Landsbergis PA, Baker DB, eds: The Workplace and Cardiovascular Disease. Occup Med 15(1):213-222, 2000.
Belkic KL, Schnall PL, Landsbergis PA, Baker D. The workplace and cardiovascular health: Conclusions and thoughts for a future agenda. In: Schnall PL, Belkic KL, Landsbergis PA, Baker DB, eds: The Workplace and Cardiovascular Disease. Occup Med 15(1):307-322, 2000.
Belkic KL, Landsbergis PA, Schnall PL, Baker DB, Theorell T, Siegrist J, Peter R, Karasek R. Psychosocial factors: Review of the empirical data among men. In: Schnall PL, Belkic KL, Landsbergis PA, Baker DB, eds: The Workplace and Cardiovascular Disease. Occup Med 15(1):24-46, 2000.
Leigh P, Schnall PL. Costs of occupational circulatory disease. In: Schnall PL, Belkic KL, Landsbergis PA, Baker DB, eds: The Workplace and Cardiovascular Disease. Occup Med 15(1):257-268, 2000.
Schwartz JE, Belkic KL, Schnall PL, Pickering TG. Mechanisms leading to Hypertension and cardiovascular morbidity. In: Schnall PL, Belkic KL, Landsbergis PA, Baker DB, eds: The Workplace and Cardiovascular Disease. Occup Med 15(1):121-132, 2000.