Saurabh S. Thosar, Ph.D., M.S., OTR/L

  • Associate Professor, Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences

Biography

Dr. Thosar received a professional bachelor's degree in occupational therapy from Maharashtra University of Health Science in India and a master's degree in Movement Sciences from the University of Illinois at Chicago. After two years of practicing occupational therapy and cardiac rehabilitation, he returned to get his doctorate and earned a Ph.D. in Human Performance from Indiana University Bloomington in 2014. He pursued postdoctoral training at OHSU in Dr. Shea's laboratory from 2014-18. During this time, his work was supported by a fellowship from the National Space Biomedical Research Institute, an early clinical investigator award from the Medical Research Foundation of Oregon, and a postdoctoral fellowship from the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Thosar secured a faculty position at OHSU and started his research group in 2018. His group studies the interactions between sleep, circadian rhythms, and physical inactivity/activity related to cardiovascular disease in people with chronic disease.

He is an associate professor at the Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences and holds secondary appointments in the Schools of Nursing, Medicine, and Public Health. His laboratory is currently funded by a five-year NIH R01 grant.

Dr. Thosar is a culturally aware mentor. He is a graduate of the OHSU mentoring academy based on CIMER's (Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research) mentoring curriculum designed to address the National Institute of General Medical Sciences' mentoring expectations.

To contact Dr. Thosar for training opportunities, email thosar@ohsu.edu   

Education and training

  • Degrees

    • M.S., 2007, University of Illinois
    • Ph.D., 2014, Indiana University

  • Fellowship

    • Sleep and circadian biology, OHSU

  • Certifications

    • Clinical Exercise Specialist American College of Sports Medicine 2007
    • Occupational Therapist National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy 2007
    • Occupational Therapist Licensed in the State of Oregon 2014

Memberships and associations:

  • Sleep Research Society 2014- Present
  • American Heart Association 2017- Present
  • American College of Sports Medicine 2005- Present
  • All India Occupational Therapy Association (AIOTA) - Life member
  • Indian Society for Sleep Research - Life member

Areas of interest

  • Inactivity and exercise physiology
  • Vascular function assessment
  • Circadian rhythms
  • Cardiovascular disease research
  • Occupational and public health

Additional information

Honors and awards

  • APS Select Award, Americal Physiological Society, 2019
  • Travel Award for Outstanding Abstract Sleep Research Society, 2016
  • First place oral scientific presentation OHSU Research Week, 2016
  • Travel Award Implementation Science Workshop-Sleep Research Society, 2015
  • Young Investigator Forum awardee American Academy of Sleep Medicine/NIH, Bethesda, MD, 2015

Publications

Publications

  • Bright light increases blood pressure and rate-pressure product after a single session of aerobic exercise in men

    Physiological reports
    1. Gustavo F. Oliveira
    2. Thais C. Marin
    3. Julio C.C.L. Barbosa
    4. Luan M. Azevêdo
    5. Saurabh S. Thosar
    6. José Cipolla-Neto
    7. Claudia L.M. Forjaz
    8. Leandro C. Brito

  • Cardiovascular disease risk

    Frontiers in Public Health
    1. Nicole P. Bowles
    2. Yimin He
    3. Yueng Hsiang Huang
    4. Eric C. Stecker
    5. Azizi Seixas
    6. Saurabh S. Thosar

  • Effectiveness and Durability of a Workplace Sedentary Behavior Intervention Based on the Total Worker Health® Approach

    Behavioral Sciences
    1. Bradley Wipfli
    2. Sara Wild
    3. Ginger Hanson
    4. Steven Shea
    5. Kerri Winters
    6. Wura Olawole
    7. Renee Kozlowski
    8. Saurabh S. Thosar

  • Identifying an acceptable number of ambulatory blood pressure measurements for accuracy of average blood pressure and nocturnal dipping status

    American Journal of Physiology - Heart and Circulatory Physiology
    1. Leandro Campos de Brito
    2. Sean P.M. Rice
    3. Nicole P. Bowles
    4. Matthew P. Butler
    5. Andrew W. McHill
    6. Jonathan Emens
    7. Steven A. Shea
    8. Saurabh S. Thosar

  • Obesity alters the circadian profiles of energy metabolism and glucose regulation in humans

    Obesity
    1. Andrew W. McHill
    2. Saurabh S. Thosar
    3. Nicole P. Bowles
    4. Matthew P. Butler
    5. Omar Ordaz-Johnson
    6. Jonathan S. Emens
    7. Jonathan Q. Purnell
    8. Melanie Gillingham
    9. Steven A. Shea

  • Transitioning to Working from Home Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic Significantly Increased Sedentary Behavior and Decreased Physical Activity

    International journal of environmental research and public health
    1. Nicole Chaudhary
    2. Megan Jones
    3. Sean P.M. Rice
    4. Laura Zeigen
    5. Saurabh Suhas Thosar

  • Chronological distribution of readings in ambulatory blood-pressure monitoring exams affects the nighttime average and the magnitude of blood-pressure dipping

    American Journal of Physiology - Heart and Circulatory Physiology
    1. Leandro C. Brito
    2. Nicole P. Bowles
    3. Andrew W. McHill
    4. Sean P.M. Rice
    5. Matthew P. Butler
    6. Jonathan Emens
    7. Steven A. Shea
    8. Saurabh S. Thosar

  • Resting coronary flow drives the daily pattern in coronary flow reserve in patients with chest pain without obstructive epicardial stenosis

    Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine
    1. Saurabh S. Thosar
    2. Sahar Taqui
    3. Brian Davidson
    4. Todd Belcik
    5. James Hodovan
    6. Sean P.M. Rice
    7. Jonathan R. Lindner

  • Chronobiology of Exercise

    Comprehensive Physiology
    1. Leandro C. Brito
    2. Thais C. Marin
    3. Luan Azevêdo
    4. Julia M. Rosa-Silva
    5. Steven A. Shea
    6. Saurabh S. Thosar

  • The circadian system modulates the cortisol awakening response in humans

    Frontiers in Neuroscience
    1. Nicole P. Bowles
    2. Saurabh S. Thosar
    3. Matthew P. Butler
    4. Noal A. Clemons
    5. La Troy D. Robinson
    6. Omar H. Ordaz
    7. Maya X. Herzig
    8. Andrew W. McHill
    9. Sean P.M. Rice
    10. Jonathan Emens
    11. Steven A. Shea

  • Sedentary work and physiological markers of health

    International journal of environmental research and public health
    1. Brad Wipfli
    2. Sara Wild
    3. Courtney Donovan
    4. Ginger C. Hanson
    5. Saurabh S. Thosar

  • Shorter sleep predicts longer subsequent day sedentary duration in healthy midlife adults, but not in those with sleep apnea

    Nature and Science of Sleep
    1. Saurabh S. Thosar
    2. Meera C. Bhide
    3. Isabel Katlaps
    4. Nicole P. Bowles
    5. Steven A. Shea
    6. Andrew W. McHill

  • Sleep efficiency is inversely associated with brachial artery diameter and morning blood pressure in midlife adults, with a potential sex-effect

    Nature and Science of Sleep
    1. Saurabh S. Thosar
    2. Daniel Chess
    3. Nicole P. Bowles
    4. Andrew W. McHill
    5. Matthew P. Butler
    6. Jonathan S. Emens
    7. Steven A. Shea

  • The active workplace study

    Contemporary Clinical Trials
    1. Bradley Wipfli
    2. Sara Wild
    3. Ginger C. Hanson
    4. Steven A. Shea
    5. Kerri Winters-Stone
    6. Saurabh S. Thosar

  • Circadian rhythm in negative affect

    Psychiatry Research
    1. Jonathan S. Emens
    2. Alec M. Berman
    3. Saurabh S. Thosar
    4. Matthew P. Butler
    5. Sally A. Roberts
    6. Noal A. Clemons
    7. Maya X. Herzig
    8. Andrew W. McHill
    9. Miki Morimoto
    10. Nicole P. Bowles
    11. Steven A. Shea

  • Effects of obstructive sleep apnea on endogenous circadian rhythms assessed during relaxed wakefulness; an exploratory analysis

    Chronobiology International
    1. Matthew P. Butler
    2. Saurabh S. Thosar
    3. Carolina Smales
    4. Pamela N. DeYoung
    5. Huijuan Wu
    6. Mohammad V. Hussain
    7. Miki Morimoto
    8. Kun Hu
    9. Frank A.J.L. Scheer
    10. Steven A. Shea

  • Circadian Rhythm of Vascular Function in Midlife Adults

    Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology
    1. Saurabh S. Thosar
    2. Alec M. Berman
    3. Maya X. Herzig
    4. Andrew W. McHill
    5. Nicole P. Bowles
    6. Christine M. Swanson
    7. Noal A. Clemons
    8. Matthew P. Butler
    9. Aaron A. Clemons
    10. Jonathan S. Emens
    11. Steven A. Shea

  • Separate and interacting effects of the endogenous circadian system and behaviors on plasma aldosterone in humans

    American Journal of Physiology - Regulatory Integrative and Comparative Physiology
    1. Saurabh S. Thosar
    2. Jose F. Rueda
    3. Alec M. Berman
    4. Michael R. Lasarev
    5. Maya X. Herzig
    6. Noal A. Clemons
    7. Sally A. Roberts
    8. Nicole P. Bowles
    9. Jonathan S. Emens
    10. David H. Ellison
    11. Steven A. Shea