John F. Todaro, PhD

    Assistant Professor, 
    Dept. of Psychiatry & Human Behavior
    Brown Medical School


    Staff Psychologist, 
    The Miriam Hospital

Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine
Coro Building, Suite 500
One Hoppin Street
Providence, Rhode Island 02903
Phone: (401) 793-8008
Email: John_Todaro@brown.edu
Fax: (401) 793-8056

John Todaro, PhD, is an assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown Medical School and The Miriam Hospital.  Todaro's research interests are focused within the area of cardiovascular behavioral medicine, with a particular interest in sex differences and coronary heart disease (CHD) outcomes.  He was recently funded by the NHLBI to investigate whether men and women achieve similar medical, psychological, and quality of life benefits after participating in cardiac rehabilitation. The goal of his research is to ensure that both men and women receive the most effective medical and behavioral treatment following a significant cardiac event.  Todaro is especially interested in the influence of depression, anxiety, and hostility on the development, progression and long-term outcomes of CHD.  

• Young Investigator Award, National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression, 2004 - present
• Career Development Award, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, 2001- present
• Training Fellow, NIH Summer Training Institute on Design and Conduct of Randomized Clinical Trials Involving Behavioral Interventions, 2003

The Efficacy of Depression Management at Reducing Inflammatory Markers Associated with Coronary heart disease (CHD)
John F. Todaro, Ph.D. (PI)

There is promising epidemiologic evidence that inflammatory processes could be an important link in the relationship between depression and CHD. However, it is still unknown whether treating depression can alter these inflammatory processes and, ultimately, reduce CHD risk. The goal of this preliminary clinical trial is to examine whether cognitive behavioral therapy for depression can alter inflammatory markers involved in the atherosclerotic process.

The Long-Term Benefits of Cardiac Rehabilitation in Men and Women
John F. Todaro, Ph.D. (PI)

Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is recognized as a vital component of secondary prevention of future incident heart disease. Unfortunately, the effectiveness of CR has been studied primarily in men, neglecting the benefits of CR services in women. The goal of this project is to determine whether men and women achieve similar long-term medical, psychological, and quality of life benefits following participation in cardiac rehabilitation. Men and women participating in CR will be followed for a period of two years after completion of CR to measure long-term outcomes, such as psychosocial functioning, maintenance of health behaviors, and cardiac morbidity and mortality.

Secondary Prevention of Coronary Heart Disease in Women
John F. Todaro, Ph.D. (PI)

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality among American women. With the advent of the Women's Cardiac Center (WCC) at the Miriam Hospital, there is a unique opportunity to develop a hospital-based database to track secondary prevention outcomes in women with CHD. The goals of this project are twofold: 1) to develop a database infrastructure to support research initiatives in women diagnosed with CHD; and 2) to develop a repository of behavioral and medical outcomes from women receiving treatment services at the WCC.

Todaro, J.F., Sears, S.F., Rodrigue, J.R. & Musto, K. (2004). Organ scarcity and the psychological pre-heart transplant evaluation: A simulation study using community residents. Progress in Transplantation. In press.

Todaro, J.F., Shen, B.J., Niaura, R., Tilkemeier, P., & Roberts, B. (2004).Do men and women achieve similar benefits from cardiac rehabilitation?. Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation, 24, 45-51.

Niaura R.S., Stroud L.R., Todaro J.F., Ward K.D., Spiro A 3rd, Aldwin C., Landsberg L., Weiss, S.T. (2003). Associations between repression, general maladjustment, body weight, and body shape in older males: The Normative Aging Study. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 10, 221-238.

Shen, B.J., Todaro, J.F., Niaura, R., McCaffery, J., Zhang, J., Spiro, A. et.al. (2003). Are Metabolic Risk Factors One Unified Syndrome? - Modeling the Structure of the Metabolic Syndrome X. American Journal of Epidemiology, 157, 701-711.

Todaro, J.F., Shen, B.J., Niaura, R., Spiro, A., Ward, K., & Weiss, S. (2003). A Prospective Study of Negative Emotions and CHD Incidence: The Normative Aging Study. American Journal of Cardiology, 92, 901-906.

McCaffery, J. M., Niaura, R. S., Todaro, J. F., Swan, G., & Carmelli, D.  (2002).  Depressive symptoms and metabolic risk in adult male twins enrolled in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Twin Study.  Psychosomatic Medicine, 65, 490-497.

Niaura, R. S., Todaro, J. F., Stroud, L. R., Spiro, A., III, Ward, K. D., & Weiss, S.  (2002).  Hostility, the metabolic syndrome, and incident coronary heart Disease.  Health Psychology, 21, 588-593.

Sears, S.F., Todaro, J. F., Saia, T.L., Urizar, G., Sirois, B., Wallace, R., Sotile, W., Curtis, A.B., & Conti, J.B. (2000). Assessing the psychosocial impact of the ICD: A national survey of implantable cardioverter defibrillator health care providers. PACE- Pacing and Clinical Electrophysiology, 23, 939-935.

Todaro, J. F., Fennell, E. B., Sears, S. F., Rodrigue, J. R., & Roche, A. K. (2000). Review: Cognitive and psychological functioning in pediatric heart transplant recipients. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 25, 567-76.