Dr. Jonathan A. Shaffer serves as a core faculty member in the Clinical Health Psychology doctoral program within the Department of Psychology where he is involved in teaching, mentoring, and research. He is a licensed clinical psychologist with training in cardiovascular behavioral medicine and quantitative methodology. Dr. Shaffer has an active research lab and mentors both undergraduate and graduate students. His research focuses on: (1) the role of biopsychosocial factors in cardiovascular disease and (2) the design and evaluation of psychosocial and behavioral interventions for cardiovascular disease. This research employs novel clinical trial methodology, systematic review and meta-analytic techniques, and prospective cohort study designs.
Dr. Shaffer has conducted and analyzed studies that have examined the prognostic role of and associations among quality of life, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, and physical activity in patients with acute coronary syndromes and heart failure. He has also pursued clinical work with cardiac patients; completed research on outcomes assessment for behavioral interventions; and studied psychosocial and medical factors that affect older adults with cardiovascular disease.
Dr. Shaffer has received funding from the National Institutes of Health to conduct a dose-finding study and randomized controlled trial of telephone-delivered Problem-Solving Therapy to improve quality of life in outpatients with heart failure. He has received additional funding from the American Heart Association, and has served as co-investigator/collaborator on grants from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute.
Dr. Shaffer encourages applicants to the Clinical Health Psychology doctoral program who are interested in working with his lab to apply.